Pas de Quatre

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Pas de Quatre is a ballet choreographed by Jules Perrot in 1845, to music composed by Cesare Pugni.

On the night it premiered in London, (July 1845) it caused a sensation from the critics and the public alike. The reason for this was that it brought together, on one stage, the four greatest ballerinas of the time. The ballerinas were, in order of appearance, Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni. The order of appearance was done by age, from youngest to oldest, to quelch further confrontations between them including an alleged attempt by Perrot to favor Taglioni by choosing her to perform in the honored position of last. (As she was the oldest, she did obtain this honor but not with out some bruising to her ego-- ballerinas often lied about their ages and were not readily known to admit they were older than their contemporaries.) The original cast of Pas de Quatre only danced four performances together; Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were in attendance on July 12, 1845, at the third of these four performances.

The fifth great Romantic ballerina of the time, Fanny Ellsler, was invited to take part in the gala event but declined to do so. She was replaced by the young dancer, Lucile Grahn, who accepted without hesitation.

Nearly one hundred years later, in 1941, the Ballet was restaged by choreographer Anton Dolin. The dancers he used were, in order of appearance: Nathalie Krassovska as Lucile Grahn, Mia Slavenska as Carlotta Grisi, Alexandra Danilova as Fanny Cerrito, and Alicia Markova as Marie Taglioni. Since then many ballet companies and dancers have performed the piece.