Henri Toulouse-Latrec, At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance, 1890

You see her from across the room, there, on the dance floor. She dances with passion, each movement as energetic and animated as the last. She does not stop, does not falter. Men come up to dance alongside her, only to discover that they cannot keep up. She is electric.

It’s no wonder why Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was so captivated by the dancing, music, and excitement of the Moulin Rouge. The cabaret music was like nothing found anywhere else in the city. It was a circus of dancers and singers and entertainers. This scene portrays a crowded dance floor where couples mingle and the hustle of bodies overwhelms. Yet, amid it all, one dancer is the most prominent. It is this woman, adorned in scarlet, who catches Lautrec’s eye. She is bright and energetic, from her fiery hair to her stockings. She is in motion, twirling and jumping and sliding around the floor, unlike the other women who stand still, without emotion or animation. Her face is hidden, allowing her body to tell us her story. She moves with passion, a fury of tapping and bucking and twisting. Her movements are unrestrained and spontaneous; she is the living definition of “Dance like nobody’s watching.”

There is something about her that hypnotizes me. Perhaps it is the way I can sense her energy emanating from the painting, or how I can feel the rhythm of her body. I feel privileged to be able to watch her, as if by doing so I may take away a portion of her intensity and immersion. She is absorbed in her dance, yet I, like Lautrec, cannot take my eyes off of her.