The Little Dancer Age Fourteen by Edgar Degas

In 1993 while majoring in theatre and minoring in art history at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I was lucky enough to travel to London, England.

After all these years that still ranks as my favorite vacation. I spent almost a month getting to know one of the worlds great cities. I attended many wonderful theatrical productions. I saw the changing of the guard and spent time in front of Buckingham palace hoping to see one of the royals. I followed and touched much of the Roman road and while visiting the Tate Gallery I came face to face with my favorite sculpture.

I don't know what it is about the little dancer that has always intrigued me. She has such grace for one so young. She holds her head high as if saying I may be known as one of the opera rats but someday I will be a star.

The original sculpture was a wax statuette dressed in real clothing. This mixed media piece was the only sculpture that Edgar Degas would exhibit to the public. It was met with mixed reviews. Most who saw it called the little dancer ugly, while praising her contemperary theme and unique use of mixed media.

The model for the sculpture was Marie van Goethen, a student dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet. Little Marie came from a working class family that was typical of the student dancers. Her father was a Belgian tailor and her mother was a laundress.

The student dancers were called "rats de l'opéra". Probably because they were tiny and scrambled around behind the scenes. Knowing the history of these little dancers and how most fell prey to "Gentlemen of the Theater", I hoped Marie's story turned out to be a happier one.

I may never know if Marie bacame a star in the ballet but I do know that because of Edgar Degas, she will never be forgotten. The wax statuette was found in his studio after he died in 1917, and in the eary 1920s his heirs had aproximately 30 bronze casts made. The bronze casts can be found today in major international museum collections, including the Tate, the Metropolitan Museum of Art NewYork, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Musee d'Orsay in Paris.  Not too shabby for a girl from a working class family.