The Cast of Little Dancer Visits the Actual Little Dancer

October 28, 2014

When I was maybe 10, a museum near my hometown exhibited a bronze cast of Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen sculpture. I went to visit her, and quickly discovered that my first impulse—to imitate her iconic fourth-position pose—was shared by dozens of other baby ballerinas. There was a whole crowd of us gathered around the statue, hanging out in fourth, snapping photos. It was almost instinctual.

Susan Stroman’s brand-new musical, Little Dancer, which tells the story of the girl who inspired the statue, opens on Saturday at the Kennedy Center. In tribute, the original Little Dancer sculpture is currently on exhibit at D.C.’s National Gallery of Art. And last week, the cast of the musical—which includes New York City Ballet star Tiler Peck and our friends Juliet Doherty and Sophia Anne Caruso—went to pay their respects to Degas’ masterpiece.

Naturally, they all immediately assumed fourth position. Looks like that instinct never dies.

(All photos by Margot Schulman)

The musical’s cast. Peck is adorable in her pink tutu—but did your eye go right to Juliet (third from right) and her gorgeous turnout, like mine did?

The whole company. So many Little Dancer doppelgängers!

The musical’s stars and creative team (from left): Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens, Susan Stroman, Tiler Peck and Boyd Gaines. Even non-dancers end up hitting some version of fourth position!

Merde (or in musical theater terms, break a leg) to the Little Dancer cast! For tickets and more info about the show, click here. Can’t make it to D.C.? You can still get an insider’s look at the show, via our interview with Peck about what happens when statues come to life.