Degas at the Opéra, Dance Examination, 1880

KAYWIN FELDMAN: Two dancers are getting ready for an important examination. On the right, the ballerina performs toe exercises to warm up. The girl on the left, with a blue bow, bends at the waist. JULIE KENT: She’s straightening out her tights to make sure probably the seam is well-placed in the back, and that her knees are not baggy. Baggy knees were the bane of every dancer’s existence. We’d always be pulling them up, pulling them up, pulling them up. KAYWIN FELDMAN: In the nineteenth-century Paris Opéra, dance examinations took place twice a year. One was an evaluation of skills and the other a consideration for promotion. JULIE KENT: You have to be able to execute and deliver and you have to look like it’s a walk in the park. So it’s enormous pressure. You really have to contain yourself, contain your emotions. You can’t show that you’re nervous, you can’t show it because that’s counter to what a performance should be. KIMBERLY JONES: So much was riding on these examinations, and the young women would prepare themselves very carefully, get their best tutus, they would buy beautiful ribbons, everything to make themselves look as elegant and beautiful as possible. KAYWIN FELDMAN: Just behind these two ballerinas, there are two older women. The woman on the left in a distinctive red checked plaid shawl and black bonnet seems to be tending to the tutu of the dancer bending over. These are the original stage mothers. They looked after their daughters and their interests. By promoting, encouraging, and championing their daughters, they helped them move up through the ranks.