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Degas made several studies of Miss La La, a circus artiste whose
sensational feats were well received when she performed with
her troupe in Paris at the Cirque Fernando in January 1879. Known
as ‘La Femme Canon’ she held a canon on a chain between her
teeth while hanging by her legs from a trapeze. The canon was
then fired. She also performed this stunt in London to great
acclaim. The
Westminster Review wrote: ‘During the past week
an additional attraction has been added in the person of a dusky
lady known as La La, whose feats of strength fairly eclipse anything
and everything of the kind that has gone before. She does all that
her muscular rivals have done and a great deal more. She has,
we believe, already astonished all Paris and we have little doubt
that her fame in London will rapidly spread’.
Like the ballet dancer, the circus performer had to push herself
to the extremes of endurance in order to produce something
which appeared effortlessly graceful. Here Miss La La crosses the
ankles of her silken boots and extends her arms in an appearance
of gravity-defying elegance. Something that we may not be
immediately aware of today is how much of her body is on
display. In an age when women’s legs were always concealed
the exposure of so much flesh must have added an extra frisson
of excitement to her daring routine.
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibiti ... rspack.pdf
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