Miss La La was a 'wirewalker, trapeze artist and strongwoman' who performed aerial stunts and feats of strength. She was of mixed race in a racist age, and the circus was one of the few industries that was effectively colour blind. (One of Britain's most successful circus companies was owned by Pablo Fanque, the black son of an ex-slave.) Artists identified themselves with such performers as outcasts from society.

Miss La La's real name may have been Olga Kaira. She was born in 1858 in Stettin, Germany (now Poland) and began performing at the age of nine. She appeared under various stage names including 'Olga la Négresse', 'The African Princess' and 'The Cannon Woman' after a stunt in which she held up a cannon by her teeth. The performance was described in a newspaper review:

'Six men strain their muscles to lift to her a cannon of no mean dimensions. This she also supports by her teeth alone, never leaving her hold even when, the match being applied, the gun is fired and gives a tremendous report.'

Degas's painting shows her being hoisted to the roof of the circus suspended by her teeth from a rope which passes over a pulley, out of our sight. (Degas later made a sketch of the pulley contraption to demonstrate how it worked.)

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