Dancer

In this captivating composition we present today we see a female dancer in a dramatic, backward-bending pose, wearing a beaded hat over her cropped hair. Her left pinky toe peeks out from her shoe, adding a delicate detail to the scene. 

In the 1920s and early 1930s (the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods), Japan experienced a cultural shift as modernity clashed with tradition. This tension was epitomized by women whose evolving roles in urban society afforded them newfound independence. Many young women moved from rural areas to cities, with Tokyo at the heart of the Jazz Age. These moga (modern girls) took on jobs such as office workers, shop assistants, bus conductors, department-store elevator operators, waitresses, dance-hall girls (dansu-jō), and even gasoline girls, who filled cars and washed windshields. Though their earnings were modest, these fashionable young women had enough disposable income to embrace the emerging consumer culture and enthusiastically adopt Western styles and behaviors, making their own choices about fashion and entertainment.

Alongside them were the mobo (modern boys), who, much like their Western counterparts, worked during the day and danced late into the night. Dance halls, introduced to Japan in the 1920s, gained popularity after the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and thrived until increasingly restrictive moral regulations began curtailing their influence in the 1930s.

On this last day of 2024, we hope that 2025 will bring even brighter days filled with peace, prosperity, and new beginnings for all ... and a lot of art! See you next year!  :)

-Zuzanna & DailyArt Team

P.S. The last day of 2024 is also the last day of our Winter Sale; if you want to end this year with savings, visit our online Shop, where you can get every product with a 25% discount. 

P.P.S. Celebrate New Year's Eve with our quiz! Can you guess who painted these parties? For more party-themed art, see the articles below.