Female Dancer, Earthenware with slip and pigment, China, 2nd century BCE.

This figure vividly captures the moment when, with one long sleeve thrown back and the other trailing down, a dancer gently stoops and flexes her knees as she lifts one heel to advance her step, performing a dance described in Han dynasty poetry:

“Their long sleeves, twirling and twisting,
fill the hall;
Gauze-stocking feet…taking mincing steps,
Move with slow and easy gait
They hover about long and continuous, as if
Stopped in mid-air;
Dazed, one thinks they are about to fall…”