The Art of the Pas de Deux, Vol. 2  (2006)

Theatrical Release Information:
The Art of the Pas de Deux, Vol. 2

The pas de deux -- a dance for a ballerina and danseur noble, comprised of an entrée, adagio, a variation for each performer, and a coda -- represents one of ballet's most revered and enduring forms. The home video release The Art of the Pas de Deux pays homage to that form by compiling into one 85 minute program twelve of its most legendary enactments. Included here are: Galina Ulanova and Yuri Zhdanov performing the dance in Juliet's bedroom from Prokofieff's Romeo and Juliet, as choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky c. 1954; Maria Tallchief and Rudolf Nureyev performing a pas de deux from Helsted and Paulli's Flower Festival in Genzano, as choreographed by Erik Bruhn, based on Bournonville, c. 1962; Maya Plisetskaya and Vladimir Vasiliev in 'The Queen-Maiden and Ivan' dance from Shchedrin's The Little Humpbacked Horse as choreographed by Alexander Radunsky, c. 1961; Nina Ananiashvili and Aleksei Fadeyechev in the Act I pas de deux from Glazunov's Raymonda, as choreographed by Petipa and revised by Yuri Grigorovich, c. 1993; Dame Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes in the "Prince & the Firebird" pas de deux from Igor Stravinsky's Firebird, as choreographed by Michel Fokine c. 1961; Alicia Alonso and Azari Plisetsky in the Act II pas de deux from Adam's Giselle, as choreographed by Alonso after Coralli and Perrot, c. 1963; Maya Plisetskaya and Nikolai Fadeyechev in the 'Don José Pas de Deux' and 'Carmen' from Shchedrin's Carmen Suite, as choreographed by Alberto Alonso c. 1969; Erik Bruhn and Maria Tallchief dancing the 'Grand Pas' from Minkus' Don Quixote, as choreographed by Petipa c. 1961; Vladimir Vasiliev and Natalia Bessmertnova in 'The Reunion of Sparcacus and Phyrgia' pas de deux from Khachaturian's Spartacus, as choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich c. 1977; Jacques d'Amboise and Lupe Serrano; Jacques d'Amboise and Lupe Serrano in the 'Black Swan Pas de Deux' from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, as choreographed by Petipa and Ivanov c. 1960; Dame Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes in the 'Cinderella and the Prince' pas de deux from Prokofieff's Cinderella, as choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton c. 1957; and Patricia McBride and Reid Olson in the Tchaikovsky pas de deux, as choreographed by George Balanchine c. 1984. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide