Dance, an intense and passionate art form, has likely been present in every human culture. In fact, among the earliest works of art depicting it are paintings from ancient Egypt. The depiction of this topical theme also influenced the most popular artistic movements between the 19th and 20th centuries, so much so that great masters such as Degas, Renoir, Munch, Toulouse Lautrec, and Matisse depicted it.
Birmingham’s Little Ballerina
In 1968, photographer Janet Mendelsohn captured a now-iconic image: a young girl performing a dance step in the streets of Ladywood, Birmingham. With her natural grace and carefree attitude, this photograph immortalizes a moment of beauty amidst a time of profound social upheaval.
Nearly 50 years later, this “little dancer” finally has a name: Lorraine Williams. Recalling her childhood, she confided:
“I would relive those days in a heartbeat; they were the best times of my life.”
Today, she still lives near her hometown, a living witness to the history embodied in this image.
This photograph is part of Mendelsohn’s project documenting life in Birmingham’s working-class neighborhoods. More than just a photograph, it is a powerful symbol of resilience, identity, and a rapidly changing community. A window into the past that continues to inspire and connect generations.
After reuniting with Lorraine, the Birmingham Royal Ballet offered her a surprise dance lesson, fulfilling her childhood dream.
The Mendelsohn Project included hundreds of photographs, each telling a story inspired by life in Birmingham in the 1960s.
Historical treasures, these works offer a valuable insight into this period.
Through the photographer’s lens, Birmingham’s historical legacy lives on, connecting generations with photographs that inspire pride, community, and an appreciation of everyday life.
Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), Grace and Talent
A Russian ballerina, trained at the Imperial Ballet School in Saint Petersburg, and considered the greatest classical ballet dancer, she was the star of the Imperial Russian Ballet and Sergei Diaghilev’s ballets.
Her most famous role, “The Dying Swan,” was created for her by choreographer Michel Fokine (inspired by The Swan, 13th movement from Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals).
Her solo, which lasted a few minutes, made her a legend.
She performed this major role 4,000 times and, starting in 1908, founded her own company to embark on international tours.
A fine comeback for someone who didn’t fit the ideal ballerina body shape due to her high-arched feet, thin legs, and weak ankles.
In 1931, Anna Pavlova contracted pneumonia, forcing her to choose between her career and death.
She refused surgery and continued dancing until her death (she had pleurisy), requesting that her costume for The Swan be made ready.
On the night of her death in January 1931, the orchestra played the music from “The Dying Swan” to an empty, spotlighted auditorium.
“I desire that my message of beauty, joy, and life continue to be delivered after me.”
“The Dancer Sacha Lyo”, 1932, Plaster – Musée du Petit Palais, Paris. A work by the sculptor Serge Yourievitch
(1875-1969), son of a Belarusian noble family.
“Perfect form, pervaded by a fluid poetry… A small, round, placid figure, with the delicate features of a doll not yet awakened to life, which the first shock would shatter.”
This is how art critic and dance specialist André Levinson described Suzanne Schmitt, known by her stage name Sacha Lyo, an acrobatic music hall dancer born in Petrograd in 1914, who served as the model for this work.
This is a plaster cast made for a bronze that was exhibited at the Salon d’Automne
in Paris in 1932.
The bronze was recast under the Vichy regime, and only this plaster cast has survived the test of time.
In this splendid work, the sculptor manages to capture, with great grace and elegance, the physical tension of the acrobatic dancer’s body, and one can feel the pain endured in this extreme pose.
Tatiana Melendez and Simon J. Plant (Rachen Neville Studios)
“Dance is the firstborn of the arts. Music and poetry flow through time; the visual arts and architecture shape space. But dance is both in space and time. Before entrusting his emotions to stone, to sound, man uses his own body to organize space and to punctuate time.” Curt Sachs
James Montgomery Flagg (American, 1877-1960)
“Dancing Cheek to Cheek” circa 1930s, watercolor on board
Igor Andrianov (aka Igor Shulman – Russia) – “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll!!!“. Oil painting.
“Rock ‘n’ roll may not solve your problems, but it will let you dance to them.” Pete Townshend
Margot Fontein and Rudolf Nureyev in “Swan Lake”
“At the end of Swan Lake, when she left the stage in her large white tutu, I could have followed her to the ends of the earth.” – Rudolf Nureyev
Vera Russian-Australian Cultural Center
Polina Semyonova and Nikolay Korpaev
Act III of Sleeping Beauty. Photography by Stas Levshin
“The Dance”, Henri Matisse, 1910, oil on canvas, 259×390 cm
“The Muse of Dance”, 2020, Karen Offutt (born 1968), American painter, oil on panel
Dance students at the Laban Choreographic Institute, Berlin, 1929, photograph by Georg Pahl
Illustration of the “FoxTrot” dance, very fashionable in the 1920s
Dancing Nana (Rouge d’Orient-Bloum), 1995, by
Niki de Saint Phalle, Walk for Peace, Sherbrooke Street, Montreal
A feminist associated with the New Realists, Niki de Saint-Phalle’s work is particularly fraught with her Nanas—in other words, “good women.”
Echoing Matisse, this Dancing Nana, a sumptuous, plump, and dazzling Venus, bears the name of the artist’s granddaughter, Bloum.
The largest of all her Nanas, she proclaims the strength and joy of the free woman and carries the hope of a different world.
“Umbrellas” by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano
“The Lion Dance” this ukiyo-e was painted in 1934 by the famous Japanese painter Itô Shinsui (伊東 深水, 1898-1972).
This woman is performing the lion dance, literally called 鏡獅子 (Kagami jishi).
Lion dances are a symbol of new beginnings.
Traditionally, they are performed twice a year during a dance celebration at a Shinto shrine. But they are also part of plays such as Kabuki. It is intended to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck.
In Japan, these dances normally take place in January on New Year’s Day and during the spring season with cherry blossom festivities.
In 1925, a stunning spectacle from the New World arrived in France for the first time. Harlem and its incredibly uninhibited artists gave us a lesson in life, movement, and youth. All of Paris was captivated by the boundless vitality of the Revue Nègre.
Paul Colin, a young and already renowned painter, poster artist, and theater designer, was commissioned to create the poster for the revue. Fascinated by Josephine Baker, he then embarked on a masterful work: Le Tumulte Noir.
Le Tumulte Noir, an album of forty-five lithographs, was immediately recognized as a masterpiece. Praised by the press and critics, the original 1927 edition sold out in a few days.
Edgar Degas, “The Little 14-Year-Old Dancer”, 1881, original wax cast in bronze using the lost-wax technique and patinated 98 × 35.2 × 24.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington (United States)
“Muse” by Dariusz Slusarsky.
“To dance is to fight against everything that holds you back, everything that pushes you down, everything that weighs you down and weighs you down; it is to discover with your body the essence, the soul of life; it is to enter into physical contact with freedom.”
Jean-Louis Barrault
Fernand Léger, “Homage to Dance”, 1925, oil on canvas 31.9 × 42, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Friedemann Vogel, principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet, photo by Baky
Painting by Andrew Atroshenko
“The philosopher’s soul watches in his head.
The poet’s soul flies in his heart.
The singer’s soul vibrates in his throat.
But the dancer’s soul lives in her entire body.” Khalil Gibran
Photo by Emily Teague
Ballet in two acts by Adolphe Adam, “Giselle, or the Wilis”
Dancer Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993)
Rudolf Nureyev was born on March 17, 1938, aboard a train in Siberia.
Coming from a modest background, he discovered dance in Ufa and, against his father’s wishes, enrolled at the Vaganova Academy in Leningrad.
He quickly distinguished himself with his charisma and virtuosity, becoming a soloist with the Kirov Ballet.
In 1961, during a tour in Paris, he defected and requested political asylum, becoming a symbol of freedom during the Cold War.
He joined the Royal Ballet in London, where his collaboration with Margot Fonteyn made ballet history.
His fiery and expressive dancing revolutionized the image of the male dancer.
In the 1980s, he became director of the Paris Opera Ballet, modernizing the company and leaving a lasting legacy.
Suffering from AIDS, he continued to create until his last breath.
He died in Paris on January 6, 1993.
Nureyev remains one of the most legendary figures in dance, an artist whose passion and audacity forever marked his art.
Photo of Linyue Zhao of the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago, by Vikki Sloviter, ballet photographer and fine art portraitist, Philadelphia.
Promotional photoshoot for The Rock School for Dance Education’s 2019/20 school year brochure
“The Dance of Youth”, Pablo Picasso, 1959
Sylvia Baldeva, contemporary artist born in Bulgaria, who lives and creates in France
“Dance”, ink, 30 x 21 cm
Pablo Picasso, “Seven Ballerinas”, 1919
Drawing by Léon Bakst for “Narcisse”, ballet by Michel Fokine, music by Nicolas Tcherepnine, sets and costumes by Léon Bakst…
Edgar Degas (1834-1917), “Ballerinas in Pink,” 1876.
“Dance is a poem in which each movement is a word.” Philippe Colas
Photo by Armand Wagner, “Cello loops” with von André Mergenthaler and Aude Miller.
Sublime lightness of the fabric work…
Agathon Léonard, “Scarf Dancer”, La Piscine – Roubaix
Drawing by Salvador Dalí on old paper (signed and stamped Vtg)
“Un amor de tango” by Hamish Blakely (British)
Anna Nikulina and Denis Rodkin, photo by Philippe Jordan
Sonia Delaunay, “Flamenco Dancer,” 1916 – Orphism – oil on canvas, private collection.
In 1912, at the Section d’Or exhibition, Apollinaire distinguished between scientific and Orphic Cubism. The name “Orphism” clearly refers to his 1908 poem “Orpheus,” which deals with pure poetry, a kind of “luminous language.”
Dancer Ines Joseph
Magnifique reportage sur cet art.
merci
Merveilleux!!Merci beaucoup!@
Danser, c’est Vivre…
Merci pour ce superbe condensé de Talent…!
Kirlian