In 1865, Carpeaux was commissioned to model one of four monumental reliefs for the façade of Charles Garnier's Paris Opera. The allegorical group depiciting the spirit, or genius, of dance surrounded by dancing bacchantes and a putto was completed four years later. Carpeaux's masterpiece met with strong criticism as the dancing figures, in particular the fleshy bacchantes, were deemed far too suggestive for a public monument. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War stilled the controversy and the relief remained on the front of the building until 1964 when it was removed to the Louvre due to general deterioration of the surface.

The completed monument cost the artist almost three times his agreed fee. In an attempt to recoup some of his expenses, he started marketing reductions in different media of various segments of the completed group.