Pas de deux
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Pas de deux (disambiguation).
In ballet, a pas de deux (French, step/dance for two, literally "not as two", implying two are like one) 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.
[edit] Famous 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. 1895.
- The Bluebird Pas de Deux from the third sct of The Sleeping Beauty. Choreography by Marius Petipa and Enrico Cecchetti. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. 1890.
- The Diane and Actéon Pas de Deux, derived from the Pas de Diane (or the scene 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 from 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 choreographed by Marius Petipa for the Ballerina Pierina Legnani and the Danseur Alexander Chekrygin for Petipa's 1899 revival of Le Corsaire. Today presented in a redaction derived from revisions by Pyotr Gusev (circa 1925), Agrippina Vaganova (1931) and Vakhtang Chabukiani (circa 1940). Music by Riccardo Drigo, though often other variations are utilized for the Ballerina by the composers Anton Simon, and Léon Minkus. NOTE - it is a common misconception that this piece was originally choreographed by Petipa as a Pas de Trois. It was not presented as a Pas de Trois until the 1920s in a revision by Fedor Lophukov.
- 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 Zarakhov (1941), and many others. Music by Léon 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 1903.
- 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.
- The Carnival in Venice Pas de Deux (AKA The Fascination Pas de Deux from Satanella. Choreography by Marius Petipa. Music by Cesare Pugni on a theme by Nicolò Paganini. NOTE - this Pas de Deux was originally created by Petipa for his wife, the Prima Ballerina Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa, to be added to her performance in a work titled The Carnival in Venice, and though the work did not last but a few performances in the repertory of the Imperial Ballet Petipa's Pas de Deux nevertheless survived in an independent form. In 1870 Petipa interpolated the piece into his production of the ballet Le Diable Amoureux (AKA Satanella as it was known in Russia), where it acquired the title the Fascination Pas de Deux. The piece outlived that ballet as well, and it has survived well into the present day as an independent piece. Today it is known as either The Carnival in Venice Pas de Deux or as the Fascination Pas de Deux from Satanella, or quite simply as the Satanella 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) and The Pearl (1896). The male variation was taken from Petipa's ballet The Pharoah's Daughter (1862) set to Cesare Pugni's music, while the female variation was taken from Petipa's ballet The Pearl.
- 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 (1900, originally staged as Harlequin's Millions) and The Talisman (1889). The coda comes from the Grand Pas d'action from The Talisman while the rest of the music is from Harlequinade. George Balanchine also presented a version of this Pas de Deux in 1955.
