In ballet, a pas de deux is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle. It is most often performed by a male and a female though there are exceptions, such as in the film White Nights, in which a pas de deux is performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines.
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male drag ballet troupe that parodies the conventions of romantic and classical ballet. The company's current artistic director is Tory Dobrin.
Julie Kent is an American ballet dancer; she was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre from 1993 to June 2015. In 2016, she was named the artistic director of The Washington Ballet. She became co-artistic director at the Houston Ballet in July 2023.
Natalia Romanovna Makarova is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. The History of Dance, published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her as the finest ballerina of her generation in the West."
Gillian Murphy is a British-born American ballet dancer who is a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.
Misa Kuranaga is a Japanese ballerina. She is a principal dancer at the San Francisco Ballet. She was formerly a dancer at Boston Ballet, and was the first Asian person to be promoted to principal dancer there.
The Cape Town City Ballet Company, formerly known as the CAPAB Ballet Company, is a dance company based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Élisabeth Platel is a French prima ballerina.
Erina Takahashi, born in the city of Kushiro in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a Lead Principal dancer with the English National Ballet. She was the Critics Circle Best Female Newcomer in 2001.
Gonzalo Garcia is a Spanish American ballet dancer. He joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1998, and was promoted to principal in 2002, at age 22. In 2007, he left the company and joined the New York City Ballet. He retired from performing in 2022 and remains in the company as a repertory director.
William Dollar was an American dancer, ballet master, choreographer, and teacher. As one of the first American danseurs nobles, he performed with numerous companies, including the Philadelphia Opera Ballet, the American Ballet, Ballet Caravan, Ballet Society, Ballet Theatre, and New York City Ballet.
Kathleen Breen Combes is an American ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet until 2019, when she retired to join Festival Ballet Providence as executive director. She is now the Director of Ballet Rhode Island
Irek Dzhavdatovich Mukhamedov OBE, is a Soviet-born British ballet dancer of Tatar origin who has danced with the Bolshoi Ballet and the Royal Ballet. Born in Kazan, he trained at the Moscow Choreographic Institute under the guidance of Alexander Prokofiev between 1970 and 1978. Upon graduation, he joined the Classical Ballet Company, where he spent three years touring around the world. It was with this company that he first danced Romeo, a role that was to become one of his most acclaimed. In 1981 he won the Grand Prix and gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow and was immediately invited to join the Bolshoi Ballet as a principal dancer, where he not only became Grigorovich's favourite danseur but went to become the youngest man ever to dance the leading role in Spartacus.
Alexandra Zaharias was an American ballet teacher.
Yosvani Ramos is a Cuban ballet dancer. He danced with the English National Ballet for nine years, five as a principal dancer, before joining The Australian Ballet as a principal artist in January 2008, leaving in 2013 and dancing with Cincinnati Ballet as a principal dancer for one season. He then joined Colorado Ballet in Denver as a principal dancer, and retired in April 2023. He has been named artistic director of Ballet de Monterrey in Mexico from January 2024.
Jurgita Dronina is a Russian-Lithuanian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, having previously danced with Royal Swedish Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and English National Ballet.
Maria Shirinkina is a Russian ballerina, who is a first soloist of the Mariinsky Ballet and a guest principal dancer of the Bayerisches Staatsballett.
Hugo Marchand is a French ballet dancer. He joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 2011 and was named étoile in 2017, at age 23.
Anna Ol is a Russian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer in the Dutch National Ballet.
