Teachers` Guide - Detroit Institute of Arts

Teachers’ Guide
Dancers in the Green Room, ca. 1879; Edgar Degas, French, oil on canvas, The Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase
How to use this Teachers' Guide:
Share general content ideas with students before, during, and after their visit to the
exhibition “Degas and the Dance”.
= Incorporate this information into classroom lessons and activities
= Give copies to parent chaperones (DIA requires 1 chaperone for every 10 students)
=
Museum visits and alignment with the Michigan Curriculum Framework:
Themes and content of the “Degas and the Dance” exhibition have been linked with the Michigan
Department of Education's K-12 Curriculum and Standards in Arts Education, Social Studies, and
other subjects.
Teachers can also use aspects of students’ museum experiences to meet the Standards of
Authentic Instruction:
= Higher Order Thinking
= Deep Knowledge
= Substantive Conversation
= Connections to the Real World
For more information about the K-12 Curriculum and Standards, visit the MDE Web site at
michigan.gov/mde
To download a copy of this guide or for information on “Degas and the Dance” and other DIA
programs, services, and learning opportunities, visit the DIA’s Web site at www.dia.org
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Table of Contents
Exhibition Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 3
Exhibition Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 4
Exhibition Walk-Through and Key Points . . . . . . . .Pages 5-11
Explanatory texts
Edgar Degas and the Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 12
The Paris Opéra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 13
Alignment to the K-12 Curriculum Standards . . . . .Pages 14-15
Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pages 16-17
Discussion Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 18
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 19
Web Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 20
Letter from DIA Head of Education
Survey
This exhibition is organized by the American Federation of Arts, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Philadelphia
Museum of Art.
The Detroit showing of the exhibition is made possible by a generous contribution from the DaimlerChrysler
Corporation Fund.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Additional
support is provided by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the City of Detroit.
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Kirby Street
Exhibition Floorplan
N
Farnsworth Street
John R Street
DIA
FARNSWORTH
ENTRANCE
WOODWARD
ENTRANCE
Woodward Avenue
Student groups enter at the
Woodward Entrance
6.
Degas at
Work
3.
Private World
of the Dance
2.
Degas as a
Portraitist
4.
The Classroom
1.
Introduction
5.
9.
On Stage
7.
Theater
Try Ballet
8.
In the Wings
ENTRY
10.
“Movement of
the Greeks”
EXIT
11.
“Orgies of
Color”
Restrooms
Museum Shop
Audio
Return
Stairs
Elevator
Level 2
Near Modern Art Galleries
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Dancers, (detail);
ca. 1897; Edgar
Degas; pastel with
charcoal on heavy
wove paper; The
Detroit Institute
of Arts
Exhibition Summary
Known as “the painter of dancers,” French artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917) devoted more
than half his entire artistic output to ballet themes. “Degas and the Dance” is an
examination of these works, covering a wide range of media including paintings,
drawings, pastels, and sculptures. As we glimpse into the world of the ballet through his
eyes, the exhibition helps us discover what distinguished Degas as an artist. Through the
works, we also learn about ballet itself, a rigorous art form and discipline that was a focal
point of the cultural life of Paris in the latter half of the 19th century.
The exhibition's BIG IDEAS
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Fascinated by the world of the ballet in late 19th-century Paris, Degas challenged
traditional ideas about the nature of visual perception and art. His ballet images
manipulated subject, form, perspective, lighting, color, and the representation of
figures in motion.
Degas’s representation of the primarily female dancers as individuals as well as of their
previously hidden backstage world was unique and groundbreaking.
The Paris Opéra and the ballets performed there were a focal point of culture and the
social life of the elite in 19th-century Paris. It was accessible only to a select few,
but we can learn about it through Degas’s work.
Ballet is an art form that requires dedication and discipline from its dancers.
Audio Guides
YOUTH AUDIO GUIDE (10 STOPS):
(RECOMMENDED FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS)
Free with exhibition admission, the Acoustiguide audio tour features ten stops for
youths middle school age and younger. Listen as a young artist and dancer discuss
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what’s special and interesting about the works of art. Along the way they find
some differences but even more similarities between the two art forms. Students
will be introduced to important features of Degas’s work as well as the world of
the ballet in Paris during the late 1800s.
ADULT AUDIO GUIDE (14 STOPS):
(RECOMMENDED FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS)
Take a tour of the exhibition with the Acoustiguide audio tour, which is free with
museum admission. You’ll have a rare opportunity to listen in on a conversation
between exhibition co-curator Richard Kendall and Detroit Institute of Arts
Director Graham W. J. Beal as they discuss Degas’s work. At fourteen audio guide
stops, you’ll discover more about the subtleties of Degas’s art, how his ballet
images changed over the years, and what his work tells us about the artist, the
world of the ballet, and society at the time.
Or experience the best of both tours! You can access either tour with the same
audio guide player, so you can listen to as much or as little of either tour as
you'd like.
Exhibition Walk-Through and Key Points
Gallery 1. Introduction
DESCRIPTION:
The exhibition begins with photomurals of the Palais Garnier Opéra theater of
Paris, where Degas attended opera and ballet performances. Labels establish the
context and main points of the exhibitio, including two panels that are
reproduced at the back of this Teachers’ Guide:
= an introduction to Edgar Degas and his dance-related work
= background on the Opéra.
A maquette, or model, of the stage set design for the Opéra’s 1885 production of
Sigurd is displayed.
KEY POINTS:
= Degas’s use of ballet as a subject for his work was groundbreaking in its day,
as were his depictions of the previously unseen aspects of the dancers’ world in
rehearsals and backstage.
The Opéra was a focal point of culture and social life in 19th-century Paris. A
source of intense national pride and hailed as “the greatest theater in the world,”
the Opéra brought together the foremost French composers, librettists (authors of
the text for musical theater), set designers, singers, and dancers with the cream of
aristocratic and fashionable society.
=
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Gallery 2. Degas as a Portraitist
DESCRIPTION:
Degas knew many dancers and others associated with the ballet and presented
them in portraits whose informality was novel at the time. Several of Degas’s
portraits are accompanied by photographs or images of the individual by other
artists. Visitors see an example of a carte de visite, small photographs that were
used as calling cards.
KEY POINT:
These portraits illustrate Degas’s insider status at the Paris Opéra and his
privileged access to its backstage areas. This access allowed him to use dancers as
models, to study them in great detail, and to portray them in street clothes when
they weren’t dancing.
Concepts to Ponder and Discuss
Degas chose one subject, dance, and examined it from many angles. Identify some
activities that contemporary artists might use as a focus. Discuss how they might
represent these activities.
Gallery 3. The Private World of the Dance
DESCRIPTION:
These works focus on the “private world” of dancers, the rehearsals, classrooms,
and backstage areas normally unseen by the audience. Degas chose to show
dancers stretching, adjusting costumes, and lacing ballet slippers as well as
awkward positions these activities sometimes required. He was interested in
exploring these movements, an unconventional subject matter for the time.
The room includes works in a variety of media, including oil paintings, pencil
sketches, chalk and charcoal studies, a watercolor, and several bronze casts of wax
sculptures. Featured here is Degas’s most famous sculpture, Little Dancer,
Aged Fourteen.
KEY POINTS:
= Degas’s images of ballet’s “private world” presented dancers as real, believable
individuals rather than in idealized or sentimental portrayals.
The additional sculptures of dancers demonstrate Degas’s skill as a self-taught
sculptor. Originally created in wax, these sculptures were later cast in bronze,
after the artist's death, in order to preserve them.
=
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Degas drew exceptionally well and used color to powerful effect. He used
materials such as pastels in new ways.
=
Concepts to Ponder and Discuss
The dancers depicted in this room are not performing for an audience, but rather
rehearsing. Look for ways they are still perfecting their art.
Gallery 4. The Classroom
DESCRIPTION:
Room 4 examines the classroom, an integral part of the dancer’s daily life and
crucial to understanding the world of the ballet. The room contains a number of
oil paintings as well as chalk, charcoal, and pastel works and bronze casts. The
images include views in the classroom and studies of fundamental ballet poses.
One side of this gallery recreates the look of a dance studio, with a wood floor,
exercise bar, and window designs inspired by Degas’s classroom paintings.
KEY POINTS:
= Degas’s paintings of ballet classrooms are among his most celebrated and
complex works. In them, Degas portrays a great range of figures caught in realistic
positions from ballet classes, but each is represented as an individual.
Degas used his extensive observations, notes, and sketches to recreate
specific details from the world of the ballet. In his finished works of art, he
manipulated these details, creating images that may never have existed in the
real world.
=
Degas’s composition, or the way he organized elements within his paintings, was
unusual for the late 1800s. His point of view could be extremely close-up, angled,
or from some unusual perspective.
=
Concepts to Ponder and Discuss
Degas was famous for creating works with unexpected points of view. Describe what you
see that gives the images an unusual viewpoint.
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Gallery 5. On Stage
DESCRIPTION:
The stage was the focal point of the Paris Opéra for audience and performers alike
and the only public space in the Opéra ever represented in Degas’s work. One
group of studies on paper focuses on a particular opera, Robert le Diable. Within
this room, a wood stage floor and maquettes, or models, of set designs of the
operas La Favorite and La Tempête help recreate the feeling of a stage. Several
more conventional images of the ballet by artists working at the time are included
in this room to allow for comparisons.
KEY POINTS:
= Degas’s unconventional view of the stage generally disregarded the elaborate
sets and painted backdrops, instead focusing on close-ups of individual figures and
showing performers from unusual angles.
By deemphasizing other aspects of a ballet performance, such as music,
theater, and visual arts, Degas directed attention toward capturing movements of
the dancers.
=
Examining dance imagery by artists working before and during Degas’s time
helps to illuminate both what influenced his work and what made it distinctive.
=
Concepts to Ponder and Discuss
Perspective plays a critical role in the way a viewer experiences a work of art. Locate
two paintings with unusual points of view. Think about occasions in which where you are
located affects how you experience an event.
Gallery 6. Degas at Work
DESCRIPTION:
This gallery examines Degas’s working methods, and features interactive computer
stations that allow viewers to “flip” through pages in one of the artist’s sketch
books. Examples of Degas’s photography, as well as a ballet slipper that Degas
used for reference, are also displayed.
A movement study by early freeze-frame photographer Eadweard Muybridge
(1830-1904) whose work was known to Degas, is also included in the gallery.
NOTE: SPACE
IS LIMITED IN THE INTERACTIVE SECTIONS OF THE EXHIBIT.
WAIT TO USE THE INTERACTIVES, OR THEY MAY BE UNAVAILABLE DURING
THERE MAY BE
PEAK HOURS.
A
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Gallery 7. Theater:
The Passionate Routine: Ballet behind the Scenes
(8 minutes, runs continuously, seating for 40)
DESCRIPTION:
Handed down from teachers to students from generation to generation, the art of
ballet has remained remarkably consistent since Degas’s era. The demanding
schedules, strenuous physical routines, personal sacrifice, and passionate
dedication witnessed by Degas in classrooms at the Paris Opéra more than one
hundred years ago are still required of ballet dancers in practices and rehearsals
today. This brief video offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the ballet,
highlighting some of the most significant similarities and differences between the
classical dance of Degas’s time and that of our own.
KEY POINTS:
= Ballet was and is an extremely demanding discipline, requiring hours of daily
rehearsal and excellent physical condition.
=
The role of men in the ballet has expanded greatly in the last fifty years.
NOTE: SPACE IS
LIMITED IN THE THEATER.
THERE
MAY BE A WAIT TO SEE THE VIDEO, OR THE
THEATER MAY BE UNAVAILABLE DURING PEAK HOURS .
Interactive Panels on Characteristics of Degas’s Work
DESCRIPTION:
Explore the unique characteristics of Degas’s style with interactive panels that
highlights specific works of art.
KEY POINTS:
= While most painters are known primarily either for their skillful use of color or
their ability to manipulate line through drawings, Degas was a master of both.
Photographers in Degas’s time were exploring less staged uses of the camera,
making prints with randomly cropped scenes taken from unusual viewpoints.
=
Degas was influenced by mass-produced popular illustrations, including
caricatures from newspapers, and also Japanese prints.
=
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Gallery 8. In the Wings
DESCRIPTION:
Degas presented frank images of the dancers as they waited to perform. Several of
Degas’s oil and gouache paintings illustrate the view from backstage.
Also featured is a group of monotype illustrations based on La Famille Cardinal
(The Cardinal Family), a collection of satirical short stories set in the world of the
Paris Opéra. Related lithographs and illustrations by other artists are
included for comparison.
KEY POINTS:
= The abonnés (from the French abonner, “to subscribe to”), or annual
subscribers, to the Opéra, represented the political, financial and cultural elite of
Paris. Some abonnés had personal relationships with dancers.
Backstage and the wings (the area at either side of the stage) were privileged
areas; access to them was limited to dignitaries, directors, journalists, artists,
patrons, and abonnés.
=
Concepts to Ponder and Discuss
As a season subscriber, Degas had a special pass allowing him to go backstage at the
Opéra. How would you obtain behind-the-scenes access to a special event or film
presentation today? What kind of experience or information would that access provide?
Gallery 9. Try Ballet
DESCRIPTION:
This room presents an opportunity for visitors to the exhibition to try ballet
themselves. Mirrored walls allow would-be dancers to get a clear view of their
performance. Exercise bars for both children and adults are provided, as is
appropriate music. Photographs of local dancers illustrate the five basic foot
positions and three basic bar exercises. Ballet slippers and toe shoes (both new
and broken in) give an up-close look at a dancer’s equipment.
KEY POINTS:
= Trying ballet can give students a direct physical connection to the images of
movement in the exhibition.
Trying basic positions can demonstrate some of the physical strength and agility
required by ballet—it’s harder than it looks!
=
NOTE: SPACE IS LIMITED IN THE "TRY BALLET" ROOM. THERE
ROOM, OR IT MAY BE UNAVAILABLE DURING PEAK HOURS.
MAY BE A WAIT TO USE THIS
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Gallery 10. The "Movement of the Greeks"
DESCRIPTION:
In response to a question as to why he painted ballet dancers, Degas said:
"Because, Madame, it is all that is left to us of the combined movements of the
Greeks." Like many people of his time, Degas firmly believed that the roots of
ballet were ancient, dating back to the theater, dance, and music of ancient Greece
and even beyond. Figures in many of his late drawings and sculpture share the
elegance and simplicity of Greek images of dancers and—like them—are often
shown nude or lightly clothed.
KEY POINTS:
= Degas and others felt that the art of the ballet was tied to the tradition of
ancient Greek art, and Degas was influenced by exhibits of ancient art that he
studied at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Degas was an artist whose work was influenced by both the traditions of the
past and the current technologies of his day.
=
Gallery 11. "Orgies of Color"
DESCRIPTION:
The final room of the gallery features oil and pastel works from Degas’s later
years. These images are characterized by bright hues and densely saturated colors
that make his work seem to shimmer. Degas once referred to these works as
“veritable orgies of color.”
KEY POINTS:
= In the bolder colors, dramatic cropping, and progressive blurring of forms, his
work moved away from the more realistic earlier styles and foreshadowed the
development of abstraction in the 20th century.
=
Degas adapted his approach to making art as his eyesight began to fail.
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Edgar Degas and the Dance
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was born into a cultured
Parisian family that encouraged his interest in music and painting. After a
long period of conventional artistic study, Edgar Degas turned his attention
to the modern city, beginning in the mid-1860s with scenes and
personalities from the Paris Opéra. The Opéra—where ballets were
performed—was a glamorous social institution, but Degas often chose to
disregard its public face. He rarely depicted the entire stage but preferred
fragmentary glimpses of the ballerinas, typically seen from a seat high up in
the theater. His pictures of backstage existence emphasized the dancers’
demanding regime and off-duty appearance.
Using his personal connections at the Opéra, Degas visited the ballet
classrooms and observed the process of training firsthand, though he
never painted on the spot. He became remarkably knowledgeable about
the ballet and frequently hired dancers to pose in his studio as he
reconstructed the scenes he encountered. Many of Degas’s pictures show
actual classrooms and documented productions, all represented in a highly
individualistic manner.
Known as “the painter of dancers,” Degas devoted more than half his
entire artistic output to ballet themes. In later years he concentrated on
small groups of ballerinas at rest behind the scenery. Modeling in wax and
exploiting the rich colors of pastel, he was to make some of the most
audacious and expressive images of the human figure of the early
twentieth century.
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The Paris Opéra
Almost all the ballerinas who appear in Degas’s pictures and sculptures
were associated with the Paris Opéra, one of the leading cultural and social
institutions in France. The foremost French composers, librettists, singers,
and dancers of the age contributed to its repertoire, and the cream of
aristocratic and fashionable society was found in its audiences. When
Degas first saw the ballet, the Opéra was located near the center of the
city on the rue Le Peletier, where he situated his earliest paintings of
dance subjects.
The Opéra was a huge institution that employed about seven thousand
people and housed ballet classrooms, rehearsal spaces, and workshops. Its
spectacular productions, featuring vast architectural settings or exotic
landscapes and elaborate special effects, were internationally renowned.
Tickets were expensive, and many were reserved by regular subscribers,
placing a performance beyond the reach of most Parisians. Degas had
friends at the Opéra and became a subscriber himself. Yet the glittering
crowds and sumptuous decor rarely appear in his pictures, which
concentrate instead on the hard-working members of the ballet company.
The rue Le Peletier building was destroyed by fire in 1873, but was soon
replaced by the immense new Opéra, known as the Palais Garnier after its
designer, Charles Garnier. The Palais Garnier is still in use today. Many of
the pictures in this exhibition are set in one or the other location.
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Alignment to the
Michigan Department of Education’s
K-12 Curriculum and Standards
ARTS EDUCATION (includes Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts)
Content Standard 3: All students will analyze, describe, and evaluate works of art.
Content Standard 4: All students will understand, analyze, and describe the arts in
their historical, social, and cultural contexts.
Content Standard 5: All students will recognize, analyze, and describe connections
among the arts; between the arts and other disciplines; and between the arts and
everyday life.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Standard 3. Meaning and Communication
All students will focus on meaning and communication as they listen, speak,
view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Strand I. Historical Perspective
Standard I.2 Comprehending the Past
All students will understand narratives about major eras of American and
world history by identifying the people involved, describing the setting, and
sequencing the events.
Standard 1.3 Analyzing and Interpreting the Past
All students will reconstruct the past by comparing interpretations
written by others from a variety of perspectives and creating narratives
from evidence.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Strand V. Inquiry
Standard V.1 Information Processing
All students will acquire information from books, maps, newspapers, data
sets, and other sources, organize and present the information in maps,
graphs, charts, and time lines, interpret the meaning and significance of
information, and use a variety of electronic technologies to assist in the
accessing and managing information.
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TECHNOLOGY
Evaluating and Forecasting
All students will evaluate the societal and environmental impacts
of technology.
WORLD LANGUAGES
Linking Language and Culture
All students will connect a non-English language and culture through texts,
writing, discussion, and projects.
For more information, see: K-12 Curriculum and Standards, Michigan Department of
Education Web site at michigan.gov/mde
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Vocabulary
Abonné—(from the French abonner, “to subscribe to”), a male annual subscriber to the
opera/ballet.
Annotated drawings—Degas made notes directly onto drawings, often remarking on the
“correctness” of the dancer’s position or physical attitude.
Carte de visite—small (2 ½ x 4 inches) photograph mounted on cards, used like today’s
business cards or calling cards. These were often collected.
Corps de ballet (corps)—non-principal dancers; often students.
En pointe—dancing on one’s toes while wearing pointe shoes.
Essence—oil paint, thinned with turpentine and then painted with a brush onto
absorbent paper.
Etoiles—“stars,” the primary dancers.
Foyer de la danse—a rehearsal room at the Opéra where abonnés could interact with the
dancers.
Foyer de jour—the principal classroom at the rue Le Peletier Opéra.
Frieze paintings—a series of ten long, rectangular canvasses begun in the late 1870s that
show classrooms and students resting or individually practicing.
La Famille Cardinal—short stories by Degas’s friend Ludovic Halévy about the Cardinal
family and their two young daughters who were dancers at the Paris Opéra. Degas made
monotypes of these stories.
Maquette—a small preliminary model; in this exhibition, a three-dimensional stage set
design.
Marking—complicated finger gestures that replicated the movements to be made by the
dancer’s feet—a mnemonic device used by dancers.
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Palais Garnier—Paris opera house designed by Charles Garnier in 1861, completed in
1875 and still in used today.
Petits rats (also known as opera rats)—youngest of the ballet students.
Rue Le Peletier Opéra House—old structure which had earlier been a grand residence.
Classes and rehearsal rooms also were located here. Destroyed by fire in 1873.
“Turn out”—foot position with the feet placed heel-to-heel.
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Concepts to Ponder and Discuss
Degas as a Portraitist
=
Degas chose one subject, dance, and examined it from many angles. Identify some
activities that contemporary artists might use as a focus. Discuss how they
might represent these activities.
Private World of the Dance
=
The dancers depicted in this room are not performing for an audience but rather
rehearsing. Look for ways they are still perfecting their art.
The Classroom
=
Degas was famous for creating works with unexpected points of view. Describe what
you see that gives the images an unusual viewpoint.
On Stage
=
Perspective plays a critical role in the way a viewer experiences a work of art. Locate
two paintings with unusual points of view. Think about occasions in which where
you are located affects how you experience an event.
In the Wings
=
As a season subscriber, Degas had a special pass allowing him to go backstage at the
Opéra. Classes and rehearsal rooms also were here. Destroyed by fire in 1873.
How would you obtain behind-the-scenes access to a special event or film
presentation today? What kind of experience or information would that
access provide?
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Bibliography
BOOKS
FOR
ADULTS:
Degas.
Robert Gordon and Andrew Forge; Richard Howard (translator). New York: Abradale Press and
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2002.
Robert Gordon examines Degas’s drawings, pastels, and paintings arranged by theme to
capture the artist’s genius and technical mastery. Andrew Forge describes Degas’s life: his
privileged upbringing; his travels to Italy and America; his love of theater, music, and
ballet; and his never-ending quest for perfection in his art which caused him to draw and
redraw the same subjects over and over again until they became his own.
Degas.
Bernd Growe; Michael Hulse (translator). Köln: Taschen, 2001.
Bernd Growe’s study conveys the expressive richness, diversiry, and experimental nature of
Degas’s art.
Degas and the Dance.
Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall. New York: American Federation of Arts and Harry N.
Abrams, Inc., 2002.
This is the first major exhibition and catalogue to explore ballet in its historical context.
DeVonyar and Kendall present new information about Degas as an artist and his
relationship with all aspects of the ballet during his lifetime.
Degas and the Little Dancer.
Richard Kendall, Douglas W. Druick (contributor), Arthur Beale (contributor). New Haven and
London: Yale University Press in association with the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 1998.
This book is a study of Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, one of the most famous
of all nineteenth-century European sculptures. It surveys the history, character, and
significance of the sculpture, as well as its social context.
BOOKS
FOR
YOUTH:
Dance Like a Butterfly: Adventures in Art.
Angela Wenzel; Rosie Jackson (translator). New York: Prestel Verlag, 2002. (Fiction)
Some of Degas’s most famous paintings and sketches come to life in this charming book
written for children and aspiring dancers. Recommended for elementary students.
Degas and the Little Dancer: A Story about Edgar Degas.
Laurence Anholt. Hauppauge: Barron’s Educational Series, 1996. (Fiction)
This book recounts the story of a girl named Marie who wanted to be the most famous
ballerina in the world. However, her parents could not afford money for lessons, so
she became a model at the ballet school and posed for Edgar Degas. Recommended for
elementary students.
Degas: The Invisible Eye.
David Spence. Hauppauge: Barron’s Educational Series, 1998.
This book presents an overview of the artist’s life, as well as insight into how society
and the art of his time influenced Degas’s work. Recommended for high school students.
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Web Sites
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/ballet/makeingconn.html
This site uses Degas’s work to make curriculum links to various genres of visual and performing arts.
http://www.crayola.com/educators/lessons/display.cfm?id=354
This site presents an interdisciplinary lesson plan for pre-K through 12 students using
Degas’s dancers and horses.
http://www.crystalproductions.com/videos/who_is.html
This site lists descriptions and reviews of interactive videos for students in grades 3 and
above about Degas and other impressionist artists.
http://www.getty.edu/artsednet/resources/nortonSimon/degas.htm
This site presents a lesson on The Ironers, painted by Degas in 1884.
http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/degas/html/right.html
This site presents an online exploration of Degas’s work in conjunction with the
international loan exhibition “The Private Collection of Edgar Degas” and the teacher
workshop “Postures and Poses: The Art of Edgar Degas,” produced by the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
http://www.nga.gov/education/ep-realism.htm
This site lists the free loan teaching programs “Degas: The Dancers” and “Degas at the
Races” (also available online), produced by the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
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Dear Educator:
Thank you for planning a visit to the exhibition “Degas and the Dance” with
students.
Please fill out the attached survey to help us improve future Teachers’
Guides and return it by January 31, 2003. If you have not yet seen “Degas
and the Dance,” please wait until after your visit to complete the survey.
We will select one survey from those submitted and award museum admission for 40 students and 4 adults (a $56 value) for a future visit. A drawing
will be held the first week of February, 2003, and the winner will be notified –
please be sure to fill in your name and contact phone number on the survey
to enter the contest.
Sincerely,
Nancy Jones
Head of Education
DEGA S AND THE DANCE TEACHERS’ GUIDE
1. How did you receive the Degas and the Dance Teachers’ Guide?
c Electronic file downloaded from the DIA Web site
c Printed copy sent by the DIA
c Both an electronic file and a printed copy
c Don’t know
c Other
2. Did you attend Degas and the Dance with a student group? (Note: if you plan to attend the exhibition at a
future date, please wait until after your visit to complete the survey.)
c Yes
c No
3. If you answered YES to Question 2, when did you first receive an electronic file or printed copy of the
Degas and the Dance Teachers’ Guide? If you answered NO to Question 2, skip to Question 4.
c 4 or more weeks prior to visiting
c 2 to 3 weeks prior to visiting
c At the museum
c After visiting the museum
c 1 week prior to visiting
4. How helpful were the following items in the Degas and the Dance Teacher Guide?
UNHELPFUL
NEUTRAL
Exhibition map
c
c
Summary of exhibition themes
and key points
c
Description of interpretive
materials in Galleries 6, 7 and 9
SOMEWHAT HELPFUL
HELPFUL
VERY HELPFUL
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
Discussion questions
c
c
c
c
c
Degas and Opera background
information text
c
c
c
c
c
Links to MI Curriculum and Standards
c
c
c
c
c
Vocabulary
c
c
c
c
c
Bibliography
c
c
c
c
c
5. Of the items mentioned in Question 4, list the two that you found most helpful?
a.
b.
6. How likely would you be to use the following items about the exhibition if they were included in a future
teachers’ guide?
VERY UNLIKELY
UNLIKELY
UNDECIDED
LIKELY
VERY LIKELY
Adult audio guide script
c
c
c
c
c
Description of interpretive materials
in the exhibition
c
c
c
c
c
Discussion questions
c
c
c
c
c
Exhibition map
c
c
c
c
c
CONTINUED ON REVERSE SIDE
VERY UNLIKELY
UNLIKELY
UNDECIDED
LIKELY
VERY LIKELY
Formal lesson plans for the classroom
c
c
c
c
c
Images of works of art
c
c
c
c
c
Links to MI Curriculum and Standards
c
c
c
c
c
Sample explanatory text
from the exhibition
c
c
c
c
c
Summary of exhibition themes
and key points
c
c
c
c
c
Vocabulary
c
c
c
c
c
Youth audio guide script
c
c
c
c
c
Web quests
c
c
c
c
c
Other
c
c
c
c
c
7. Of the items mentioned in Question 6, list the two that you would find most helpful?
a.
b.
8. Overall, how wold you rate the Degas and the Dance Teachers’ Guide?
c Poor
c Fair
c Neutral
c Good
c Excellent
c Don’t know
GENERAL
9. What grade level do you most often teach?
c K to 2
c 3 to 5
c 6 to 8
c 9 to 12
c Parent Chaperone
10. What subject do you most often teach?
c Art
c Dance
c English language arts
c General classroom
c Mathematics
c Science
c Social studies
c World languages
c Other
11. Do you have any additional comments or suggestions?
Required for contest notification:
Name
Telephone
Please mail completed survey to the DIA Education Department, 5200 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202.