I could illustrate dancers all day. The beauty of their bodies in motion is unrivaled as far as I’m concerned. The extreme commitment and dedication it takes to become an excellent dancer is commendable, and is easily forgotten when you observe the sheer grace with which they move across their stage of performance.
This pastel and pastel pencil drawing on paper was done after recently reading some excerpts from a book on the black experience in american dance. It’s hard to fathom what has been denied the human experience by limiting people of other cultures exposure on our stages of performance and art here in America for many years in the past.
It’s only my opinion but I think that perhaps that was why we had not known of the many sculptures that Degas had done. The only one that was brought to an exhibit Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, Edgar Degas which was a sculpted figure with an actual dance skirt attached to it, was criticized as breaking from traditional sculpted works and considered crude and brutish.
It’s important to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.