Leonide Massine waiting for his cue to go on stage in 'On With the Dance'

What you are looking at

Five figures are positioned in a narrow corridor or backstage passage with cream and ochre-coloured walls divided into vertical sections. The setting suggests theatrical wings or a dressing room area. On the left, a figure in dark clothing enters from a pool of warm golden light. Second from left, a man in a dark suit with his arm raised adjusts or touches the upper wall, his posture suggesting physical preparation or a moment of tension. Centre-right, a figure in a striking teal jacket and bright red leggings stands with their back to the viewer, creating a vivid focal point. To the right, a taller man in formal dress (white shirt, dark waistcoat and jacket) stands with relaxed posture. The lighting is warm and staged, creating pools of illumination that isolate each figure and suggest the artificial environment of a theatre. The composition emphasizes waiting, anticipation, and the private moments before performance.

The dancing

The figures are arranged loosely in depth rather than in formation, each absorbed in their own moment. The man with his arm raised shows a characteristic theatrical stretch or adjustment—weight shifted, one arm extended upward in a gesture between preparation and uncertainty. The figure in the teal jacket and red leggings stands with straight posture, feet planted, suggesting readiness. The rightmost figure maintains an easy, observant stance. None are engaged in ballroom hold or partner connection; instead, each occupies private space within a shared environment.

The dance depicted

This image documents a backstage moment rather than a dance itself. The catalogue identifies the figure with raised arm as Leonide Massine, a major twentieth-century dancer and choreographer, waiting for his cue in *On With the Dance*. Massine was a principal dancer with the Ballets Russes and created works across ballet and theatrical dance. The image captures the psychological and physical state of performance preparation—the tension, the isolation within proximity, the readiness of bodies trained for movement. This is not a depiction of dancing but of dancers in the liminal space before performance.

How it was made

The work appears to be a painting executed in oil or tempera, with a muted, naturalistic palette dominated by warm ochre, cream, and grey tones. The artist (Gluck, a 1920s painter) employs clean edges and simplified forms, with minimal detail in faces and hands. The technique flattens the space slightly while maintaining atmospheric depth through subtle tonal shifts and the strategic use of light. This representational style was characteristic of interwar British and European portrait and figurative practice, intended for gallery exhibition and review by educated audiences familiar with both theatre and contemporary art.

About this work

This is a documentary artwork of theatre culture in the 1920s—specifically a portrait of the Russian-born dancer Leonide Massine in a moment of professional intimacy. Rather than depicting the spectacle of performance, it captures the private, psychologically charged moment of waiting in the wings. The work sits at the intersection of theatrical portraiture and backstage naturalism, a genre that emerged as modern artists gained access to rehearsal and preparation spaces. It is valuable to dance history because it documents Massine's presence in London theatre and because it reveals the human texture of professional dance practice—the bodies, the costumes, the emotional register of the working dancer apart from the stage.

How to look at it

Attend first to the isolation of each figure despite their proximity, and the psychological charge of that isolation. The raised arm of the central male figure is the painting's emotional centre—it is neither dance nor gesture in the conventional sense, but a body in transition, caught between rest and action. Notice how the vivid colour of the central figure's clothing breaks the muted palette; this is a deliberate compositional choice that marks a dancer's presence as vital to the scene. The work captures not movement but readiness, a state of bodily and mental focus.

The artist

Gluck (Hannah Gluckstein, 1895–1978) was a British painter known for portraiture and figurative work with a distinctive palette of earth tones and flattened spatial structure. Working in the 1920s, Gluck was part of the interwar artistic circles that intersected with theatre, music, and literary culture. Her practice was rooted in modernist formal concerns—clarity of line, restraint in colour, psychological attention to the human face—while remaining committed to representation. She exhibited widely and was recognized as a serious artist-observer of contemporary life.

The period

In 1925, when this work was made, the Ballets Russes was at the height of its cultural influence in London and Paris. Leonide Massine had recently been a principal dancer for the company and was increasingly active as a choreographer. This was an era of intense artistic exchange between visual art and theatre; painters were drawn to ballet as a subject, and dancers were understood as worthy subjects for serious portraiture. The painting's date also positions it at the moment when backstage realism was emerging as a subject in modern art—influenced by photography, film, and a new frankness about theatrical labour.

Where it lives

The work is recorded as held by or sourced from the Victoria and Albert Museum (VA), which holds a significant collection of theatrical art and design documentation. The record indicates the era label as Late 1800s (Victorian Ballroom), which contradicts both the stated date of 1925 and the documentary evidence of the image itself.

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