Waiting Can-Can Dancer

This drawing is charcoal on cradled Ampersand gessobord coated with varnish and was made in 2010. It is 24″ x 18″ and is not framed but has hanging hardware so is ready to hang. The depth is 3/4″ and the sides are painted black.

This was made for a solo show at Foundation Gallery in New Orleans (2013). Gayle has always loved New Orleans and this show was her love letter to the city. Half of the paintings in the show were oil paintings and half were drawings. Most of the portraits were of her burlesque friends.

The woman in this drawing is Bethel Caram, an actress, writer, and comedian living and working in New York City. In 1992, Gayle met a woman named Denise Dalfo Zay in Janet Panetta’s dance class. Denise asked Gayle if she would like to dance in the can-can which she choreographed every Bastille Day in a French restaurant called Restaurant Florent, which she also managed. Gayle said yes, and continued to dance in the can-can and various other burlesque shows until the restaurant closed in 2008. Bethel was one of the other can-can dancers. They performed the can-can throughout the day and night. In between performances, the can-can dancers rested in various locations nearby – sometimes a photo or dance studio, sometimes just the basement of Restaurant Florent as seen in paintings like “Can-Can Dancer in the Basement of Restaurant Florent“.

Here’s a picture of it with me so you can see what size it is!

If you want to pick up this piece from Gayle in NYC and pay for it when you get it, select “COD” (cash on delivery) and “local delivery” when checking out.

If you would like to see the work in person in NYC before buying it, please contact Gayle.

Additional notes:

1. The dimensions written in the “Additional Information” section below are for the size of the box this item would be mailed in, if it is mailed. The actual size of the piece is listed above.
2. The artist retains all licensing rights to the work – i.e. the buyer cannot use this image to sell any products or merchandise such as cards, t-shirts, mugs, etc.