This isn't a rehearsal for its own sake. Look at the center of the room and you're watching a dance exam, judged by a man who really did that job for the Paris Opera.
What you're looking at
Degas began The Dance Class in 1873 and, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's own catalogue, kept reworking the composition long after. At the center, one dancer in a pink sash performs an "attitude" pose, her arms and leg held in careful position, while an older man in a dark coat watches and evaluates her.
A real ballet master, judging a real exam
That watching figure is Jules Perrot, an actual ballet master of the Paris Opera, shown here doing his real job: assessing a student's performance. In front of the mirror on the left, another dancer waits her turn, and the Met's own curators describe her as looking like she's biting her nails, an expression of the same nervous anticipation Degas gives to a young dancer waiting for her own exam.
Behind the dancers, a poster on the green wall advertises Rossini's opera Guillaume Tell. The Met notes that this detail honors the singer Jean-Baptiste Faure, who actually commissioned this painting from Degas. A tall mirror beside it reflects a window and the dancers themselves, doubling the room Degas painted in reflection.
One detail to look for
Look for the mirror on the left wall. It reflects both a window and the dancers, giving you a second, indirect view of a room you're already looking at directly, a small trick Degas used more than once in his ballet scenes.
See it at its real size
Our canvas print is labeled honestly against the true size of the original. Shop the canvas print.