Edgar Degas
Degas's work was controversial, but was generally admired for its draftsmanship. His "La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans", or "Little Dancer of Fourteen Years", which he displayed at the sixth Impressionist exhibition in 1881, was probably his most controversial piece; some critics decried what they thought its "appalling ugliness" while others saw in it a "blossoming". In part Degas' originality consisted in disregarding the smooth, full surfaces and contours of classical sculpture ... [and] in garnishing his little statue with real hair and clothing made to scale like the accoutrements for a doll. These relatively "real" additions heightened the illusion, but they also posed searching questions, such as what can be referred to as "real" when art is concerned. The suite of pastels depicting nudes that Degas exhibited in the eighth Impressionist Exhibition in 1886 produced "the most concentrated body of critical writing on the artist during his lifetime ... The overall reaction was positive and laudatory".
Doug Fitch
On February 22, 2012, Giants Are Small and the New York Philharmonic announced a new collaboration, A Dancer's Dream, featuring Igor Stravinsky's ballets "Fairy's Kiss" and "Petrushka", conducted by Alan Gilbert, directed and designed by Doug Fitch and video directed and produced by Edouard Getaz in June 2013 at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. The show is partially based on a version developed in 2008 at the University of Maryland, directed by Doug Fitch in collaboration with conductor James Ross. Early in 2013, Giants Are Small announced that the show will also comprise one excerpt of Louis Durey's "Neige". New York City Ballet's Sara Mearns will be the star ballerina, representing various characters throughout the show, in a choreography by Karole Armitage. The production features a mix of music, live filmmaking and puppetry, and ballet.