Dancers In Blue

Edgar Degas is arguably most famous for his pastels of ballet dancers.

The intoxicating world of make -believe and fantasy that ballet represented was his take on the modern France of the late 1800's. He told his Impressionist friends, " You need nature, but I need artificial life."

Had he been alive today, he would perhaps have been painting the out-there artifice of someone like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie. And with his talent, he could probably have persuaded them to sit together and even wear tutus.
Blue Dancers is a wonderful example of the unexpected angles that he used; the unusual point of view; the voyeuristic quality of 'looking in' to a private scene.

You can just imagine the dancers peeling off from the group to launch into a graceful pirouette or jete.
Or maybe they're having a hissed spat with each other as to who is the thinnest.

Check out Ballet Changed my Life, Ballet Hoo!, Wednesdays, 10.00pm , Channel 4

• add to del.icio.us
• digg this article!