Edgar Degas devoted half of his artistic life to dance and ballerinas, haunting the rehearsal studios, the corridors of the street Le Peletier and, later, the Palais Garnier. He was not solely captivated by movement: the hard work and discipline of these children dressed with silk and tulle, the golds of the theatre house, the backstage, the dust, the youth and femininity of simple and mysterious beings also fascinated him.

Freed from her glass prison, the famous wax sculpture named the Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer takes life under the gaze of choreographer Patrice Bart.

Basing his work on the true story of Marie Van Goethem, who was Degas’ model, Bart delves into the past of the Opera and tells us the sorrowful fate of one of the Corps de Ballet’s ballerinas, and, above all, depicts us the scent of an era.

From the rehearsal studios to the artist’s workshop, from a sulfurous cabaret to jail, the settings unveil the Palais Garnier and its backstage, along with the “working-class” Paris of the end of the 19^th century.

The Etoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet
With the participation of the Paris Opera Ballet School students
The Paris Opera Orchestra

A co-production of Opéra national de Paris, Telmondis and Bel Air Media
With the participation of France Télévisions, Mezzo and Ciel Ecran and with the support of the Centre National de la Cinématographie.

Director: Vincent Bataillon

Picture: ©Julien Benhamou / OnP