During the last fifteen years of his life, Rodin turned to assemblage, drawing, and small sculpture when he was not dealing with portraits and filling commissions for his earlier work. His art became increasingly personal and his technique, increasingly schematic. Rodin's most important subjects in his later years were dancers. He made hundreds of drawings both in his studio and on his travels. He also made a dozen sculptures of dancers, of which the most significant is the figure now called "Dance Movement A."

Far larger than the other figures in the series, "Dance Movement A" achieves a form which is both representational and abstract. Rodin has abandoned much of the anatomical precision which characterizes his earlier work. Instead he has treated the figure in a summary fashion so that he might capture its energy and emphasize the dynamic circular form achieved by the dancer as she reaches back with both hands to grasp her right foot. The clarity and energy of "Dance Movement A" finds a close affinity with the figures in Henri Matisse's dance pictures of 1910-1912.