Essence Laid Bare

American Ballet Theatre principal Julie Kent has spoken about her art as maturing into the act of displaying only what is essential. It is precisely "the essence" that Matisse reveals in his work. His quest for purity is perhaps most evident in his deceptively simple lines that highlight not only the contour, mass and weight of a body, but also the inner psyche of a person. In Danseuse reflétée dans la glace ("Dancer Reflected in the Mirror"), there is a sense of an interior life.

In Danseuse reflétée dans la glace, a ballet dancer stands before a mirror with her arms reaching behind the bodice of her tutu. It’s a moment of corporeal contemplation; the mirror, in ballet, is the true "frenemy," a tool with which to correct, but also a third eye that exasperates insecurities. As she gazes at herself, her weight is on her front foot and her back pointe shoe rests lightly on the toe. The power is in the indentation of her upper back and arms, which are more muscular than sylphlike; her right hip is tilted down, and in the mirror her reflection is exaggerated, distorting who she is or, perhaps, who she thinks she is.

While Matisse designed the décor and costumes for two ballets — Le Chant du Rossignol for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes and Rouge et Noir, which was created for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo — pure dance was rarely his focus. What he observed in movement was more primal. Matisse translated his emotions about a form moving in space with theatricality, yet without imbuing his subjects with artificial notes. He took his figures apart and arranged them anew to propose a question: what does the body actually look like? His explorations go deeper than beauty; they seek to expose the human form in all its complexity.

As Matisse embraced abstraction toward the end of his life, his serpentine lines pare the human form to its essence. But these intimate works — in a sense, miniature dances — are eternal. They contain air. They vibrate. Whether or not he was comfortable in his own body is beside the point: he understood movement. He was a dancer in his spirit.