Interested in learning more? Read my senior thesis about it!

One of my many sources of inspiration for finding the issues that started in history and continued into modernity: This Degas painting that hung between two rooms in my dance studio, that I had admired and walked past for years without ever knowing the history behind it, or how it eerie it was to see it just outside a classroom of twelve-to-fourteen-year-old dancers.

After some time, I have decided to return to my project! Last semester, I was given the opportunity to work alongside librarians, professors, and even a local ballet school in order to put together a comprehensive dive into the world of the 19th century era Paris Opera Ballet. In this 60 page document, I lay the groundwork for an incredible resource for anyone interested in learning more about the beginnings of one of the most popular styles of ballet, which would go on to influence both the Russian and Balanchine (American) styles of ballet as well as many other European styles.

Flowers of the Gutter_ A Historical Look At the Victorian Obsession with the Ballerina-Cou.

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The paper is divided into four parts, and each part works to weave together the historical accounts of dancers personal lives, newspaper clippings, working conditions, and societal impact to draw conclusions as to how this affects modern day dancers. This project was a largely independent research project that began in 2021 with an interest in Marie Van Goethem during my Victorian History class, and grew into an overall interest and passion regarding human rights abuses, workplace trauma, and harmful patriarchal structures.