Tourist Guide

The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer

The “Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer” sculpture was unlike any I have seen thus far in the European Collection or even in the whole museum. It stood out amongst the typical naked statues of men, women and children that I have seen in this collection. The bronze statue of this very elegant ballet dancer represents beauty and a type of form, specifically in dance. The careful position of her feet and arms show us the proper etiquette of a dancer. The original sculpture by Edgar Degas in 1881 was in wax form of a ballet student in Ballet Opera named Marie van Goethem. The wax form was a more realistic version of this dancer (with a flesh colored tint, horsehair wig, silk ribbon, ballet slippers and a tutu), which depicted the young dancer as more of a copy rather than a representation that it is now.