Portret van een onbekende danseres op een toneel Possibly 1933

This photograph of an unknown dancer on a stage was produced by Gale's Studios in Manchester. There's something about her pale green tutu that makes me want to reconsider the idea of performance. Look closely at the way the light catches the fabric. It’s not just a depiction, it’s almost tactile, and the tutu is the key, it has a life of its own. The backdrop is a dark curtain, nothing fancy, letting us focus on the dancer. But it’s the material quality of the tutu and the slightly awkward pose that gets me. She’s not quite floating, she’s a little bit stuck, and it makes me think of Degas, or the Ashcan school, where the everyday and the theatrical meet. Gale's Studios, with their 'Branches Everywhere,' captured a moment that feels both ordinary and extraordinary, a conversation between the real and the ideal.