Ballet Dancer 

Jean-Louis Forain captured this Ballet Dancer with pastel on paper. Forain, working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, straddled the worlds of Impressionism and the gritty realism of Parisian life. This image presents a young dancer, likely a member of the Paris Opera Ballet, caught in a moment of repose. The ballet at the time was a world of rigorous discipline, but also, fraught with class distinctions and the ever-present gaze of wealthy male patrons. Forain's choice to depict the dancer in a moment of quiet introspection offers a glimpse beyond the stage. Does her posture, with hands clasped behind her back, suggest poise or perhaps a hint of constraint? It invites us to consider the complex identities of these young women, balancing artistic dedication with the social realities of their time. Forain perhaps asks us to look past the spectacle and consider the individual.