PERIODICALS
cheesecake. In a famous incident during the 1861 Paris premiere of Wagner's opera Tannhauser, a group of wealthy young men who ar- rived too late for the "titillating" ballet portion howled the opera down. Degas apparently shared the general low public regard for bal- let: In many of his famous canvases, he lavished as much attention on the spectators and their social doings as on the dancers.
Degas's 1,500 ballet pieces earned him a reputation for misogyny in his own day....