Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux

The Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to an excerpt from Swan Lake, Op. 20, Act III, (1877) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.[1] The premiere took place on Tuesday, 29 March 1960 at City Center of Music and Drama, New York.

Described by the New York City Ballet as "an eight-minute display of ballet bravura and technique," the piece uses music rediscovered in the archives of the Bolshoi Theatre.[2] When Anna Sobeshchanskaya starred in the fourth performance of the 1877 Moscow production, she asked for more material for the role of Odile. Tchaikovsky hurriedly composed an extra number, but as it was not part of the original score and was not published with the rest of Swan Lake it was forgotten for more than 70 years. When the music was found in the Bolshoi archives in 1953, Balanchine successfully sought permission to use it for his own choreography.[2]

Casts

New York City Ballet

City Center of Music and Drama, 29 March 1960 Violette Verdy Conrad Ludlow
2008 Saratoga Springs Abi Stafford Benjamin Millepied
2009 Ana Sophia Scheller Gonzalo Garcia
2009 tour to Japan Megan Fairchild/Abi Stafford/Tiler Peck Joaquín De Luz/Jared Angle/Gonzalo Garcia
2010 Ashley Bouder/Megan Fairchild Andrew Veyette/Joaquín De Luz

Other companies

Royal Ballet, London, 16 March 1964[3] Violette Verdy Edward Villella
ABT, Festival Internacional de Santander, 11 August 1970 Mimi Paul Bruce Marks
Jacob's Pillow, August 1983 Lisa Hess Joseph Duell

Notes

  1. ↑ Both the New York City Ballet's and the Balanchine Trust's websites adopt the spelling "Tschaikovsky", rather than the more generally favoured "Tchaikovsky". See Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky#References for lists of authors favouring the shorter spelling.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", Repertory Index, New York City Ballet, accessed November 30 2011
  3. ↑ "Lithe and Witty Dancer: Royal Opera House, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux", The Times, March 17, 1964, p. 13. The report noted that Verdy had previously danced the role in London in 1962 at Margot Fonteyn's gala at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Reviews

External links