Degas at the Opéra, Dancer with a Bouquet, Curtseying on Stage, 1878

JULIE KENT: When a dancer’s taking a bow they are both receiving and giving thanks for the audience, for coming to watch you dance and receiving the appreciation of the audience. But it’s that little pause in the action where if it went very well, you’re sort of having a little celebration (Laughs) moment; if you’re less than satisfied, you’re sort of just getting it together. KAYWIN FELDMAN: This ballerina stands downstage from her fellow performers, her face and chest lit from the gas footlights below. Despite the backdrop and unusual props and costumes, we cannot link this to any one ballet or opera. Degas almost never gave us a specific scene. KIMBERLY JONES: Initially Degas started with a much smaller image, literally just showing the dancer. The original image, in fact, cut off right at the top of the woman’s head. KAYWIN FELDMAN: Degas expanded the image first by adding a strip of paper to the top and right-hand side and then a second time along the top, left, and bottom, creating an almost square format for a more elaborate scene of dancers and men with parasols. Paper conservator Kimberly Schenck. KIMBERLY SCHENCK: When he would build a composition, sometimes he would take a tracing of one drawing and then add strips of paper to that basic composition of maybe another figure, or the scenery behind. And this was a way that he could build up the composition and also make changes as he worked. KIMBERLY JONES: He did not plan everything out in advance; on the contrary, he is constantly making changes in his compositions, rethinking, reworking, reorganizing, and restructuring the entire composition. KAYWIN FELDMAN: You can best see the seams where paper was added at far left, just above the elbow of the dancer heading off the stage, and again, in the landscape, to the right of the central male figure. Degas made other revisions, too. KIMBERLY SCHENCK: You can often find evidence of where he slightly shifted the position of a dancer’s arm, or he may have added more figures as he developed the pastel. KAYWIN FELDMAN: In this case, it is the dancer’s leg. Degas drew it once, and then moved it forward.