Edgar Degas Two Dancers On The Stage Analysis

Images are often used to form and solidify ideals that are taught and passed down for generations. In the painting “Two Dancers on the Stage” by Edgar Degas, the two dancers act as signifiers for the idea of a ballerina. Through the formal construction of the painting, the ideal ballerina is formed; the epitome of gracefulness is created and equated to ballet. However through history, the image of the ideal ballerina is altered. What it means to be graceful changes as displayed by the photograph of principal ballerina Misty Copeland. Although the Degas painting and the photograph of Misty Copeland use similar elements to construct the image of the ideal ballerina such as color and posture, the images convey two different messages about who

The upfront ballerina is on the tips of her toes, her body elongated with her hands gently placed in the air. This posture with the addition of the largeness of her skirt and the slenderness of her body makes her look weightless. Also, there is a second ballerina that follows the first ballerina. The second ballerina takes a different posture than that of the first ballerina; her feet are flat and her arms are lowered. However, she is not the main focus of this painting, as the eye is automatically drawn to the first ballerina since she is bigger and more elongated that the second ballerina. The audience viewing the painting takes these visual cues as a recognizable representation of what a ballerina should look like and what gracefulness should look like. The logic goes something like this: the ballerina seen is graceful because she is a woman, and as a woman she treads lightly and glows with soft radiance, as depicted in the painting. Therefore, all ballerinas must be this way, or even broader, all women must be this way. This idea of gracefulness continues until someone questions it, until a new definition of gracefulness is