A Discourse : 'Dance in the City' by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Slide D

Discourse: The Making of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance in the City

Introduction: The Painter of Joy and Movement

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Imagine yourself in a Parisian studio in the early 1880s — a soft, slanting light falls through the high windows; outside, the hum of carriages on cobblestones. 

Here stands Pierre-Auguste Renoir, brush in hand, before a blank white canvas that will soon become one of his masterpieces: Dance in the City (La Danse à la ville, 1883).

This painting, one of a trio including Dance in the Country and Dance in the Countryside, reveals Renoir’s fascination with movement, light, and the intimacy of human connection. Yet beneath its surface elegance lies a meticulous structure, built up in thoughtful, deliberate stages.

Let us walk together through those stages — from conception to completion — to see how Renoir transformed a vision into a luminous reality.

Stage 0: The Vision Before the Canvas

Before a brush touched the canvas, there was an idea.

Renoir had long been captivated by the idea of dance. It combined two of his artistic loves: movement and light. 

Through dance, he could explore how bodies turned, glided, and intertwined — how fabric caught light, how faces flushed with motion, how intimacy might be captured in a still moment.

The year is 1883. Renoir, in his maturity, is balancing between Impressionist spontaneity and a new classical solidity of form — influenced by Raphael and Ingres. 

He wishes to show refinement and restraint in Dance in the City (contrasting the more rustic energy of Dance in the Country).

His model: Madame Suzanne Valadon, his favorite sitter — a dancer, artist, and muse. The male figure: Paul Lhote, a friend and fellow painter, serving as the elegant partner.

He stretches a large canvas, primes it with a warm tone, and steps back. The stage is set.

Slide A

Stage 1: The Underdrawing — The Dance in Lines

(Slide A: A light sketch on canvas — delicate graphite or thin umber wash outlines the figures of the couple.)

Renoir begins with a drawing. He uses thinned paint — a burnt umber diluted with turpentine — to trace the composition.

On the blank canvas, two figures emerge:

A man, upright, guiding his partner; a woman in a long, flowing white gown, her body yielding yet poised. Their eyes do not meet — hers cast downward, his focused — but their bodies are in perfect harmony.

Behind them, he places a subtle interior — perhaps a ballroom, with its columns, gilded moldings, and soft wall tones — not sharply defined but enough to situate the dancers in space.

The drawing stage defines:

• The balance of composition: vertical male figure against the swooping curve of the female.

• Gesture and rhythm: lines of motion — the woman’s dress arcs gracefully, the man’s arm extends confidently.

• Proportions: careful anatomical accuracy — the refined contour of the woman’s neck, the tension in the man’s shoulder.

Renoir’s line is fluid, continuous, as if the figures themselves are born of dance. Even now, the viewer can sense motion — the anticipation of the turn.

Stage 2: The Underpainting — Blocking Light and Shadow

Slide B

(Slide B: The same composition, now softly tinted — the first veils of color appear.)

With drawing complete, Renoir begins underpainting. His palette at this stage is restrained: warm grays, ochres, pale flesh tones, and soft violets.

He first establishes the values — where light falls, where shadow rests. The woman’s gown is a soft blaze of light; the man’s attire, a dark anchor that grounds the scene. Between them flows the conversation of tones: warm against cool, luminous against muted.

Renoir does not think in lines now, but in masses of color:

• He lays broad washes to define volume — a bluish gray beneath the woman’s skirt, suggesting shadowed folds.

• Flesh tones begin as subtle gradients — thin, semi-transparent layers that anticipate the glow of living skin.

• The background is painted in warm neutrals — golden cream and faded peach — that will later complement the central figures.

This stage is quiet, almost meditative. He is building the foundation of atmosphere. Every touch anticipates the light that will later shimmer across the finished work.

Already, the composition breathes.

Stage 3: The Modeling — Light Finds Form

(Slide C: Richer color; fabrics and faces take definition; the couple seems to step forward from the background.)

Now comes the modeling stage, where Renoir’s sensuality of touch and mastery of color truly emerge.

His brushstrokes grow softer yet more confident — tiny touches of pure pigment, layered wet-in-wet, to produce that trademark Renoir glow.

• The Woman: He lavishes attention on her gown — a satin river of white and silver. He modulates color not with pure white but with a symphony of blues, mauves, and creams. The highlights are pearly, almost iridescent, evoking candlelight and motion. Her arm, extended, glows with delicate flesh tones built from translucent pinks and corals.

• The Man: His black suit is no simple black — it is a harmony of deep blues, violets, and cool grays. Renoir avoids the dead weight of flat black; instead, he suggests sheen and texture. The gloved hand, the tilt of the head, the turn of the shoulder — all carry elegance without stiffness.

• Background: He softens the details of the ballroom. The gilded architecture dissolves into golden haze. The emphasis is on the figures — they dominate the light, they are the light.

Throughout, Renoir blends edges — one form melts into another. It is not just depiction; it is sensation. You feel the silk, the air, the softness of skin.

Stage 4: The Finishing — Light as Emotion

(Slide D: The completed masterpiece — vibrant, intimate, radiant with color and life.)

Finally, the painting reaches its culmination.

Renoir adds final glazes — transparent layers that unify and enrich color. Flesh becomes luminous; fabric shimmers. The contrast between the woman’s ethereal white and the man’s somber dark reaches poetic balance.

The dance freezes in eternal poise — a captured moment, but not static. The figures seem to sway gently even within stillness.

At this stage, Renoir’s brush is light, almost invisible. The marks of the painter dissolve into the harmony of the whole. He steps back from the canvas — not to admire, but to feel whether it sings.

And it does.

The light pulses; the couple breathes; the air glows.

This is Dance in the City — elegance and intimacy, refinement and tenderness, all composed within color and movement.

Renoir’s Philosophy in Practice

At this point in our journey, it is worth pausing to understand what Renoir was doing beyond technique.

He once said:

“To paint, one must forget everything. To see, one must forget the name of everything one sees.”

He sought not the analytical description of form but the sensual experience of vision — how color and light themselves create emotion. The figures in Dance in the City are not frozen in a ballroom; they live in an atmosphere of shimmering air, of tactile softness.

Renoir’s Dance series also shows his evolution. The spontaneity of earlier Impressionism — the outdoor light, broken brushstrokes — yields here to something more polished, classical. He reclaims drawing and design without losing the impression of life.

Step-by-Step Illustration Guide

Below is a structured visual breakdown that corresponds to the four major stages Renoir likely employed in creating Dance in the City. The process can be summarized in this table, which also aligns with the proposed illustration plate.

---

Panel	Stage	Description of Visual Content	Purpose / Artistic Focus
A	Underdrawing	Light, thin brown lines on toned ground. The couple’s figures outlined with graceful arcs — her head bowed, his upright. Bare suggestion of dress folds, ballroom pillars faintly indicated.	To establish composition, posture, and gesture. Balance of vertical vs curved movement.
B	Underpainting	Subtle tonal washes of warm gray and ochre. Light and shadow blocked. The woman’s gown pale gray-blue, man’s attire deep umber-blue. No fine detail; background a warm blur.	To set tonal harmony and overall light scheme. Begin merging figures with space.
C	Modeling	Rich color applied; flesh tones warm, fabrics textured. Details emerge: face, hands, folds, sheen of satin. The contrast between dark suit and luminous gown begins to vibrate.	To build volume, realism, and emotional resonance through color.
D	Finishing	The complete scene: radiant, harmonious, full of motion. Faces refined, fabrics glistening. Background diffused, figures central.	To unify the composition with glazes and highlights. Light becomes the emotional language.

---

The Story Beneath the Brush

Now, imagine presenting this painting to your audience.

You stand before the projected image of Dance in the City.

You point to the couple — her in flowing white, him in black formal attire.

Then, beside it, the four-panel illustration showing its creation from blank canvas to final glory.

You tell them:

“Here we see not just paint, but a dialogue between form and feeling. Renoir begins with line — reason and design. He proceeds through tone — order and atmosphere. He builds color — vitality and flesh. He finishes with light — poetry itself.

This is not a dance between two people only; it is a dance between artist and vision, between control and freedom, between matter and emotion.”

Interpreting the Symbolism

Beyond technique, Dance in the City reveals much about the society and spirit of its time.

• Urban Refinement: The city ballroom symbolizes elegance and restraint — a world of manners, where desire is expressed through subtle gestures.

• The Couple: Their physical proximity and emotional distance embody the tension of modern life — intimacy within decorum.

• The Palette: The soft, luminous whites and pinks of the woman’s dress suggest purity and delicacy; the dark blues and blacks of the man signify structure, masculinity, and control.

• The Light: It emanates from within, enveloping the dancers — suggesting the human capacity for grace amid constraint.

In contrast, his Dance in the Country — with its bright yellows, open air, and laughter — reveals spontaneity and joy. Here, in Dance in the City, the tone is more restrained, the choreography of civilization itself.

Renoir’s Craftsmanship and Evolution

Renoir’s method combined discipline and intuition.

He used:

• Pigments of lead white, vermilion, ultramarine, Naples yellow, cobalt blue, and rose madder.

• Mediums of linseed oil and varnish to modulate sheen.

• Brushwork that alternated between soft blending and broken dabs to simulate vibrating light.

Unlike Monet, who dissolved form into pure color, Renoir retained the tactile sensuality of the human figure. His technique here anticipates the smoother modeling of his later works, such as The Bathers (1887–90).

From Blank Canvas to Eternal Dance: The Artist’s Journey

Slide A B C D Clock-wise

Let us now retrace Renoir’s emotional journey in these four stages:

1. Hope and Structure (The Drawing): The birth of order from emptiness. The artist defines space and intention.

2. Faith and Tone (The Underpainting): Trusting that color will emerge from murk — a leap of faith that light will find its way.

3. Joy and Struggle (The Modeling): The work becomes alive but demanding — endless adjustment, searching for truth in tone and hue.

4. Peace and Illumination (The Finishing): Acceptance — the realization that perfection lies not in exactness but in beauty.

All the above images are generated by ChatGPT (Open AI)                                                   Thus, Renoir’s Dance in the City is not only a painting; it is a metaphor for creation itself. From emptiness to fullness, from concept to life — each brushstroke a heartbeat of joy.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons
Dance in the City 
Musée d'Orsay

Conclusion: The Eternal Waltz of Light

As we conclude this exploration, consider this:

In Dance in the City, Renoir captures not only two dancers but the very rhythm of painting itself. The swing of the brush mirrors the turn of the waltz; the interplay of tones echoes the music of movement.

To witness this painting is to stand within a moment of grace — an instant poised between motion and stillness, surface and depth, flesh and light.

And in that instant, Renoir invites us not merely to observe, but to feel:

The warmth of a hand, the softness of silk, the shimmer of candlelight, the quiet thrill of a shared step.

The dance ends — yet continues forever on the canvas.