Valérie Belin was inspired to make this series presenting the characteristics of a “factitiousness” that is both imaginary and realist by the sight of a dancer at today’s Lido, a famous Parisian cabaret that was fashionable in the Belle Époque. All six photographs in the series show the same person. This dancer chosen by Belin wears a different costume in each image but the protocol defined by the artist requires her to produce the same smile and pose every time. This protocol of “duplication” imposed on the model causes her presence to recede in favour of the effect of an artificiality produced by the repetition of the figure.