Ukrainian Dancers

Ukrainian Dancers, a charcoal drawing from around 1899 now at the National Gallery, reflects Degas's late fascination with Eastern European folk dance that emerged from his visits to see performances of Russian and Ukrainian troupes visiting Paris. These exotic dance forms offered him new movement patterns and costume elements to observe and record — something different from the classical ballet that had been his primary dance subject for three decades. The rhythmic circle dances of Ukrainian folk tradition, with their flowing garments and vigorous energy, provided fresh formal challenges. Degas produced numerous charcoal and pastel studies of these dancers in his final active years.

Charcoal allows Degas to work rapidly in broad tonal masses rather than linear precision, and this late drawing shows his mature command of the medium: forms are established through decisive hatching and blending, with the white of the paper providing the brightest values. The folk costumes — with their distinctive embroidered details and flowing skirts — are rendered with expressive energy rather than ethnographic documentation. Movement is suggested through the sweep of charcoal marks.