For 10 years Degas sketched the young women training and then reused the sketches for new artworks during the next 40 years. The early rehearsal scenes were done in oil; and in 1878, he started using pastels for his dancers, nudes and horse-track scenes. In his attempt to catch the action of the moment, his ballet dancers and female nudes are in poses that make no attempt to conceal the subjects' physical exertions. Just the same, in this example, the dancer here is in a moment of rest as she waits. Her stage mother (?) sits beside her, aware of her daughter's limited prospects. We are fortunate to have this masterful reproduction of Degas famous oil pastel, L'Attente (Waiting 1882), because it adds a new dimension to our understanding of his artistry.
