Dancers at the Barre by Edgar Degas. During his lifetime Degas depicted many scenes from the ballet. He began studying dancers in the 1870s and, along with female nudes, they were to become a principal motif in his work.Degas frequently visited the back stage and public areas of the Opera building in Paris where the ballet was performed. However, he rarely actually made his studies there, preferring instead to draw in his studio from posed models or memory.