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Article: Degas: the dancers. (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
- Article from:
- The Nation
- Article date:
- December 22, 1984
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1984 The Nation Company L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Her face is large, young, often unsmiling, with heavy-lidded eyes, a straight nose and a chin held a chip too high. She stands barely five feet tall but her muscular back and her wide bell skirt combine to make her look formidable. Her neck suits her turn-of-the-century technique: it's short and efficient, like Nijinsky's, not the attenuated stem typical today. Even so, her shoulders lie still, freeing her head to pivot in easy counterpoint to the carriage of her upper body. She never plunges into movement; she is always containing it. Still, one has the impression that if she wanted to deepen and extend her dancing, she could draw on a basic flexibility. Her waist ...