pas de deux

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Two dancers from the Ballet Nacional de Cuba performing a pas de deux

In ballet, a pas de deux (French, step/dance for two) is a duet in which ballet steps are performed together. It usually consists of an entrée, adagio, two variations (one for each dancer), and a coda.

Notable Pas de deux

• The Black Swan Pas de deux from the third scene of Swan Lake. Choreography by Marius Petipa. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, revised (ending of the Adagio) and orchestrated (Odile's variation) by Riccardo Drigo. Variation for Odile originally created for the Ballerina Pierina Legnani from Tchaikovsky's Opus 72 for Piano.

• The Bluebird Pas de deux from the third act of The Sleeping Beauty. Choreography by Marius Petipa and (possibly) Enrico Cecchetti. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

• The Diane and Actéon Pas de deux, derived from the Pas de Diane (AKA Les Amours de Diane) from Marius Petipa's 1903 revival of his 1868 ballet Tsar Kandavl (AKA Le Roi Candaule). Later revised by Agrippina Vaganova for the dancers Galina Ulanova and Vakhtang Chabukiani and added to the ballet La Esmeralda in 1931. Music by Cesare Pugni, adapted by Riccardo Drigo. 1868, 1903, 1931.

• Grand Pas Classique, derived from music taken from the opera-ballet Le Dieu et La Bayadere. Originally choreographed by Victor Gsovsky for the dancers Yvette Chauvire and Vladimir Skouratov. Music by Daniel Auber. 1949.

• The Flower Festival at Genzano Pas de deux from the ballet Blomsterfesten i Genzano. Choreography by August Bournonville. Music by Eduard Helsted. 1858.

• The Le Corsaire Pas de deux. Originally presented as a Pas d'action à trois with choreography by Samuil Andrianov in 1915 for a new production at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre of Marius Petipa's 1899 revival of Le Corsaire. First danced by Samuil Andrianov as Conrad, Tamara Karsavina as Medora, and Mikhail Obukhov as the suitor. Today the Le Corsaire Pas de deux is presented in versions derived from the revisions of Agrippina Vaganova (1931) and Vakhtang Chabukiani (circa 1940), among many others. Music by Riccardo Drigo (opening Adage); male variation by Yuli Gerber); Baron Boris Fitinhof-Schell; and coda by Drigo. Often other variations are utilized for the female by the composers Anton Simon (in Rudolf Nureyev's 1960 version), and Cesare Pugni.

• Don Quixote Grand Pas de deux. Originally choreographed by Marius Petipa. Today presented in a redaction derived from revisions by Alexander Gorsky (1900, 1903), and Rostislav Zakharov (1941), and many others. Music by Ludwig Minkus and Riccardo Drigo. NOTE - The famous Variation of Kitri with the fan was originally composed by Riccardo Drigo for the Ballerina Mathilde Kschessinskaya in 1902.

• Spring Waters. Choreography by Asaf Messerer. Music by Sergei Rachmaninoff (from his Song for Voice and Piano - opus 14/no.11).

• The Nutcracker Pas de deux. Is presented in many different versions. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. 1892, but it consists only of an adagio, the two variations, and a coda.

• The Carnival in Venice Pas de deux (AKA The Fascination Pas de deux from Satanella. Choreography by Marius Petipa. Music by Cesare Pugni, based on the composition for violin La Carnaval de Venise by Nicolò Paganini. NOTE - this Pas de deux was originally created by Petipa for the ballerina Amalia Ferraris as an addition to his revival of the ballet Le Diable amoureux (or Satanella, as the ballet was known in Russia), where it acquired the title The Fascination Pas de deux.

• The Talisman Pas de deux. Choreography by Pyotr Gusev after Marius Petipa. Music by Riccardo Drigo and Cesare Pugni. NOTE - this Pas de deux was fashioned by Pyotr Gusev in 1955 from music from two of Petipa and Drigo's ballets - The Talisman (1889). The male variation was taken from Petipa's ballet The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862) set to Cesare Pugni's music.

• The Harlequinade Pas de deux. Choreography by Pyotr Gusev after Marius Petipa. Music by Riccardo Drigo. NOTE - this Pas de deux from fashioned by Pyotr Gusev circa 1930 from music from Petipa and Drigo's ballets Harlequinade and The Talisman (1889). The coda comes from the Grand Pas des Fleurs from second act of The Talisman, while the rest of the music is from Harlequinade. George Balanchine also presented a version of this Pas de deux in 1955.

In popular culture

• Norman McLaren chose a pas de deux as the style of dance for his groundbreaking 1968 animation of the same name.

• WALL-E contains a visually stunning and thematically appropriate outer space pas de deux between two joyous robots.

• Reality program So You Think You Can Dance has had a pas de deux in both seasons four and five. A contemporary pas de deux, choreographed by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson was danced by contemporary dancers Katee Shean and William Wingfield in week six of season four. A classical pas de deux was danced by contemporary/hip-hop dancer Ade Obayomi and classical ballerina Melissa Sandvig in week four of season five, choreographed by Thordal Christensen and set to a score from Romeo & Juliet.

• Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov danced a pas de deux in the film White Nights

• Pas de deux is mentioned and performed several times in the anime Princess Tutu

• Pas de deux is the name of a JAG episode in which several main characters pair off for various story lines

• Pas de deux is featured in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing

See also

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