His densely worked pastel is executed on several pieces of paper mounted on cardboard. Degas seems to have extended the composition while working on it, hence the need for additional pieces of paper.
This work is one of a series of similar subjects dating from this period, when bathers and dancers were the artist's principal themes.
Here Degas has exploited the flexibility of the pastel medium, creating sumptuous textures and blurred contours which emphasise the movement of the figure.