Edgar Degas
Degas's only showing of sculpture during his life took place in 1881 when he exhibited "The Little Dancer of Fourteen Years". A nearly life-size wax figure with real hair and dressed in a cloth tutu, it provoked a strong reaction from critics, most of whom found its realism extraordinary but denounced the dancer as ugly. In a review, J.-K. Huysmans wrote: "The terrible reality of this statuette evidently produces uneasiness in the spectators; all their notions about sculpture, about those cold inanimate whitenesses ... are here overturned. The fact is that with his first attempt Monsieur Degas has revolutionized the traditions of sculpture as he has long since shaken the conventions of painting."
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.