[2] To the far left is a double bass with an exhausted dancer wearing a bright orange shawl sitting on it.

[2] To the far right, at the back of the room, is a group of dancers practising their moves in the light from a large window.

[2] The painting was carefully composed and shows the inspiration Degas drew from Japanese prints, with figures deliberately placed off-centre or cut off at unexpected angles and the large expanse of floor which appears to tilt upwards.

[6] Another painting from the sequence, Before the Ballet (1890/1892), is also in the National Gallery of Art.,[7] and Ballet Rehearsal (La salle de danse, c.1885) is in the Yale University Art Gallery.

[9] It has been suggested that the 40-odd paintings collectively show how Degas examined his theory that the "intervals between figures and space were the basis for creating ornament".