Pas de deux
Encyclopedia
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, a pas de deux (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, steps of two) is a duet in which ballet dancers perform the dance together. It usually consists of an entrée, adagio, two variation
Variation (ballet)
Variation or Classical Variation in ballet is a solo dance. As with an Aria in opera, which allows the singer to demonstrate his or her interpretive skills, the variation in ballet has the same function...
s (one for each dancer), and a coda.
Notable Pas de deux
- The Black Swan Pas de deux from the third scene of Swan LakeSwan LakeSwan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
. Choreography by Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. Music by Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
, revised (ending of the Adagio) and orchestrated (Odile's variation) by Riccardo DrigoRiccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
. Variation for Odile originally created for the ballerina Pierina LegnaniPierina LegnaniPierina Legnani was an Italian ballerina, a terre-à-terre virtuosa extraordinaire, considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time.-Career:...
from Tchaikovsky's Opus 72 for Piano. - The Bluebird Pas de deux from the third act of The Sleeping BeautyThe Sleeping Beauty BalletThe Sleeping Beauty is a ballet in a prologue and three acts, first performed in 1890. The music was by Pyotr Tchaikovsky . The score was completed in 1889, and is the second of his three ballets. The original scenario was conceived by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and is based on Charles Perrault's La...
. Choreography by Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
and (possibly) Enrico CecchettiEnrico CecchettiEnrico Cecchetti was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the Teatro Tordinona in Rome. After an illustrious career as a dancer in Europe, he went to dance for the Imperial Ballet in...
. Music by Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
(this was originally intended as a Pas de quatrePas de quatre (Ballet term)Pas de quatre. French term usually referring to a dance in ballet among four people.Pas de quatres appear in many ballets, between different combinations of female and male dancers. The most famous was a ballet choreographed by Jules Perrot, simply titled Pas de Quatre, to music by Cesare Pugni....
.) - The Diane and Actéon Pas de deux, derived from the Pas de Diane (AKA Les Amours de Diane) from Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
's 1903 revival of his 1868 ballet Tsar Kandavl (AKA Le Roi Candaule). Later revised by Agrippina VaganovaAgrippina VaganovaAgrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova was an outstanding Russian ballet teacher who developed the Vaganova method - the technique which derived from the teaching methods of the old Imperial Ballet School under the Premier Maître de Ballet Marius Petipa throughout the mid to late 19th century, though...
for the dancers Galina UlanovaGalina UlanovaGalina Sergeyevna Ulánova is frequently cited as being one of the greatest 20th Century ballerinas. Her flat in Moscow is designated a national museum, and there are monuments to her in Saint Petersburg and Stockholm....
and Vakhtang ChabukianiVakhtang ChabukianiVakhtang Chabukiani was a Georgian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher highly regarded in his native country as well as abroad. He is considered to be one of the most influential male ballet dancers in history, and is noted for creating the majority of the choreography of the male variations...
and added to the ballet La EsmeraldaLa Esmeralda (ballet)La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo, originally choreographed by Jules Perrot; with music by Cesare Pugni and design by William Grieve , D. Sloman , Mme...
in 1931. Music by Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
, adapted by Riccardo DrigoRiccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
. 1868, 1903, 1931. - Grand Pas Classique, derived from music taken from the opera-ballet Le Dieu et La Bayadere. Originally choreographed by Victor GsovskyVictor GsovskyVictor Gsovsky was a ballet dancer and choreographer.Victor Gsovsky was born in Petersburg, the Russian empire.His teacher on ballet was a Mariinsky Theatre’s prima ballerina Evgenia Sokolova....
for the dancers Yvette ChauvireYvette ChauviréYvette Chauviré is a French prima ballerina who was born in Paris. Her dancing career was from 1937 to 1972. She celebrated her 90th birthday in 2007. She was the étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, and later its director. She is also the holder of the Légion d'Honneur...
and Vladimir Skouratoff. Music by Daniel Auber. 1949. - The Flower Festival at Genzano Pas de deux from the ballet Blomsterfesten i Genzano. Choreography by August BournonvilleAugust BournonvilleAugust Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. August was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.August was...
. 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 PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
's 1899 revival of Le Corsaire. First danced by Samuil Andrianov as Conrad, Tamara KarsavinaTamara KarsavinaTamara Platonovna Karsavina was a famous Russian ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was most noted as a Principal Artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and later the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev...
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 VaganovaAgrippina VaganovaAgrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova was an outstanding Russian ballet teacher who developed the Vaganova method - the technique which derived from the teaching methods of the old Imperial Ballet School under the Premier Maître de Ballet Marius Petipa throughout the mid to late 19th century, though...
(1931) and Vakhtang ChabukianiVakhtang ChabukianiVakhtang Chabukiani was a Georgian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher highly regarded in his native country as well as abroad. He is considered to be one of the most influential male ballet dancers in history, and is noted for creating the majority of the choreography of the male variations...
(circa 1940), among many others. Music by Riccardo DrigoRiccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
(opening Adage); male variation by Yuli Gerber; female variation by Baron Boris Fitinhof-SchellBaron Boris Fitinhof-SchellBaron Boris Vietinghoff-Scheel, a.k.a. Fitinhof-Schell was a Russian composer....
; and coda by Drigo. Often other variations are utilized for the female by the composers Anton Simon (in Rudolf NureyevRudolf NureyevRudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...
's 1960 version), and Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
. - Don QuixoteDon Quixote (ballet)Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
Grand Pas de deux. Originally choreographed by Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. Today presented in a redaction derived from revisions by Alexander Gorsky (1900, 1903), and Rostislav ZakharovRostislav ZakharovRostislav Vladimirovich Zakharov was a Russian choreographer, dancer, ballet and opera director. He was a professor of Russian Academy of the Arts in Moscow...
(1941), Mikhail Konstantinovich Obukhov which derived into the cuban version and many others. Music by Ludwig MinkusLudwig MinkusLudwig Minkus a.k.a. Léon Fyodorovich Minkus was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violin virtuoso and teacher.Minkus is most noted for the music he composed while serving as Ballet Composer of the St...
and Riccardo DrigoRiccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
. 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 MessererAsaf MessererAsaf Mikhailovich Messerer was a Russian Jewish ballet dancer and ballet teacher. He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. From 1919 until 1921 he trained as a dancer at the Bolshoi Ballet School under Mikhail Mordkin...
. Music by Sergei RachmaninoffSergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
(from his Song for Voice and Piano - opus 14/no.11). - The NutcrackerThe NutcrackerThe Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
Pas de deux. This one occurs late in Act II, and is presented in many different versions. Music by Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
, 1892. It does not include an intrada, but consists only of an adagio, the two variations, and a coda. It was originally meant to be danced by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, and is still performed that way in many productions, but is now very often danced by the Nutcracker Prince and Clara, the girl through whose eyes we experience the entire story, and who is the heroine and female lead of the ballet. In the BaryshnikovMikhail BaryshnikovMikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
production of the ballet, the adagio is placed last, and the other sections, beginning in order with Variation I (a tarantella) are danced first. Another dance by the couple is performed earlier in Act I, immediately after the Nutcracker transforms into a Prince (in the Balanchine production of The Nutcracker, the music for this earlier dance is played, but it is not danced at all.) - The Carnival in Venice Pas de deux (AKA The Fascination Pas de deux from Satanella. Choreography by Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. Music by Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
, based on the composition for violin Le 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 amoureuxLe Diable amoureux (ballet)Le Diable Amoureux is a Pantomime ballet in 3 acts, 7 scenes. Originally staged by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Napoléon Henri Reber and François Benoist...
(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 GusevPyotr GusevPyotr Andreyevich Gusev was a ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. He was born on 29. December, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the St. Petersburg School of Choreography under Alexandr Shiryayev. He was a friend of George Balanchine and joined his Young Ballet group. He graduated in...
after Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. Music by Riccardo DrigoRiccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
and Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
. 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 DaughterThe Pharaoh's DaughterThe Pharaoh's Daughter , is a ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa, to the music of Cesare Pugni, with libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges from Théophile Gautier's Le Roman de la Momie...
(1862) set to Cesare Pugni's music. - The HarlequinadeHarlequinadeHarlequinade is a comic theatrical genre, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries...
Pas de deux. Choreography by Pyotr GusevPyotr GusevPyotr Andreyevich Gusev was a ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. He was born on 29. December, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the St. Petersburg School of Choreography under Alexandr Shiryayev. He was a friend of George Balanchine and joined his Young Ballet group. He graduated in...
after Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. Music by Riccardo DrigoRiccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
. 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 BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
also presented a version of this Pas de deux in 1955.
In popular culture
- Norman McLarenNorman McLarenNorman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...
chose a pas de deux as the style of dance for his groundbreaking 1968 animation of the same name. - WALL-EWALL-EWALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
contains an outer space pas de deux between two joyous robots. - Reality program So You Think You Can DanceSo You Think You Can Dance (U.S. TV series)So You Think You Can Dance is an American dance competition and reality show that airs on Fox in the United States.The series first premiered on July 20, 2005, and was created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions...
has had a pas de deux in both seasons four and five. A contemporary pas de deux, choreographed by Dwight RhodenDwight RhodenDwight Rhoden is a choreographer and artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet who began dancing at the age of 17 while studying acting. He has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal and was a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American...
and Desmond RichardsonDesmond RichardsonDesmond Richardson is co-founder and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He has mastered a wide range of dance forms including classical, modern, and contemporary.- Life and career :...
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. - Pas de deux is mentioned and performed several times in the anime Princess TutuPrincess Tutuis a magical girl anime series created by Ikuko Itoh in 2002 for animation studio Hal Film Maker. It was adapted as a 2-volume manga illustrated by Mizuo Shinonome...
. - Pas de deux is the name of a JAGJAG (TV series)JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
episode in which several main characters pair off for various story lines. - Pas de deux is the name of a Law and Order: Criminal IntentLaw & Order: Criminal IntentLaw & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
episode in which Goren and Eames pursue a terminally ill bank robber who is planning a final suicide-by-cop bank job. - The painting Dancers, Pink and Green (1890) by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) features two dancers on stage performing their pas de deux.
Sometimes the term pas de deux is applied very loosely to a dance for two, whether it is in strict classical form or not. By this definition, any dance for two people is automatically a pas de deux, though many lovers of classical ballet would strongly disagree.
See also
- Fanny ElsslerFanny ElsslerFanny Elssler - 27 November 1884), born Franziska Elßler, was an Austrian ballerina of the 'Romantic Period'.- Life :Daughter of Johann Florian Elssler, a second generation employee of Prince Esterhazy in Eisenstadt. Both Johann and his brother Josef were employed as copyists to the Prince's...
- List of French phrases used by English speakers
- partnering