On the occasion of the eponymous exhibition of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Mischa Scorer, who himself has filmed dance many times, explores the special relationship that Degas enjoyed with this art. We view the life of the painter through his paintings, moments at the Opéra today, and scenes of fiction of the artist in his workshop. With the help of a documented voice over, Richard Kendall and Jill DeVonyar, the exhibition curators, act as guides.

“Nothing in art should resemble an accident, even movement” noted Degas (1834-1917), who devoted more than half his work to dance. His daring compositions, viewpoints and the variety of his techniques amazed his contemporaries. Concerning his vision, Brigitte Lefèvre, the dance director at the Opéra, evokes that of a press photographer; Anne Pingeot, the curator of the Musée d'Orsay, narrates the scandal caused by the sculpture of the little dancer. The courtyards and wings interested Degas more than the pomp of the performances. Some details of his paintings allow us to identify a particular subscriber or Pygmalion watching over “his” dancer, valuable documentation for reconstructing life at the Opéra at that time. Martine Kahane, the director of the cultural department, takes us through the corridors and the rehearsal rooms: the to-and-fro movement between the paintings and the dancers, filmed in action or at rest, highlights the painter’s concern for realism.

Source : Boris France

Mischa Scorer worked as producer for BBC Television from 1965 to 1979, first in the Religious Broadcasting Department where he made such documentaries as "Padre Pio" (1968) for which he won the first prize in the WACC Monte Carlo Film Festival and in 1969 "The Vatican", the first ever major televised documentary about the Vatican.

In 1970 he moved to the celebrated BBC Documentary Department under Richard Cawston where he made a number of films in the series "One Pair of Eyes", two films about the KGB and its operations, and four films in the groundbreaking series "The Long Search" with Ron Eyre about the great religions of the world.

In 1981 he became one of the founders of Antelope Films in London, one of the first British independent television production companies, writing and directing four films in the classic 13-part series "Heart of the Dragon" about China. For the opening programme in the series "Remembering" he won an International Emmy. He went on to make two films about Venice with Gore Vidal "Vidal in Venice" (1984). From 1986 to 1988 he produced and directed a seven-part series, "Testament", for Channel Four about the history of the Bible, with John Romer.

In 1989 Scorer set up his own production company, Scorer Associates. He produced and directed for the BBC a documentary, Songs of Experience, to mark the 85th birthday of the composer Sir Michael Tippett. During the 1990s he made a number of documentaries in the BBC's "Omnibus" series, including films with Jung Chang, Isabel Allende, Joshua Bell, András Schiff, Roland Petit and Zizi Jeanmaire.

In 2003 he wrote and directed "Degas and the Dance" for PBS “Great Performances” series, a film in HD about the painter Edgar Degas and his obsession with dancers. This was co-produced with the BBC, Arte and NHK and the film won him a Peabody Award.

In 2006 Scorer established The Masterclass Media Foundation, a non-profit organisation devoted to filming and recording the world's great musicians giving masterclasses and teaching. 

The Paris Opéra Ballet is the official ballet company of the Opéra national de Paris, otherwise known as the Palais Garnier, though known more popularly simply as the Paris Opéra. Its origins can be traced back to 1661 with the foundation of the Académie Royale de Danse and the Le Ballet de l'Opéra in 1713 by King Louis XIV of France.

The aim of the Académie Royale de Danse was to reestablish the perfection of dance. In the late seventeenth century, using 13  professional dancers to drive the academy, the Paris Opéra Ballet  successfully transformed ballet from court entertainment to a  professional performance art for the masses. It later gave birth to the  Romantic Ballet, the classical form of ballet known throughout the world. The Paris Opéra Ballet dominated European  ballet throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and  remains a leading institution in the art of ballet today.

Source: New World Encyclopedia