Studies of ballerinas and scenes from the Ballet Russe and ballet lessons at Cecchetti's

A number of the sketches depict students rehearsing at Enrico Cecchetti's ballet school, which was located at Chandos Hall in Maida Vale, London. Cecchetti had been a dancer in the Russian Ballet and, after retiring, became a teacher with Diaghilev's company in 1909. In 1918 he opened his ballet studio in London. Knight spent two years sketching at the school from 1922, saying 'I speak so much of Cecchetti's classes because they had an immense effect on me. Perfection of balance and line became my ideal also, and I revelled in the joy of line for its own sake; the infinite possibilities of composition as exemplified by the human body in movement filled my mind' (B. C. Morden, Laura Knight: A Life, Carmarthen, 2013, p. 105).