The stacked, shallow arches of the building set up a counterrhythm across the canvas, opposing the upward movement of the iron struts, while a descending arc of rectangular windows the darkest, most purely geometric and most precisely defined elements of the architecture thrusts Miss La La forward into space, emphasizing the instability of her position.

WSJ: A Dizzying Artistic Feat | Edgar Degas | Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando | By Karen Wilkin