"Ballet is mimic poetry, a dream made alive"

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Paris 1870's, 1880's

Degas' ballerinas are among iconic images of the last century. Degas was able to capture movement and position of the dancer. The ballerinas are psychologically deep. They are not only idealistic pictures of dance performance, they are realistic portraits of young women of lower society class struggling to be "the dream alive" in a make-believe world of silk flowers and colorful tulle.