Pas de Quatre

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Pas de Quatre

Pas de quatre1845.jpg

Lithograph by A. E. Chalon of Carlotta Grisi (left), Marie Taglioni (center), Lucille Grahn (right back), and Fanny Cerrito (right front) in the Perrot/Pugni Pas de Quatre, London, 1845
Choreographer Jules Perrot
Music Cesare Pugni
Premiere12 July 1845
His Majesty's Theatre, London, U.K.
Created for Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni
Genre Romantic ballet
Type ballet divertissement

Grand Pas de Quatre is a ballet divertissement choreographed by Jules Perrot in 1845, on the suggestion of Benjamin Lumley, Director at Her Majesty's Theatre, to music composed by Cesare Pugni.

Ballet form of performance dance

Ballet is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread, highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary based on French terminology. It has been globally influential and has defined the foundational techniques used in many other dance genres and cultures. Ballet has been taught in various schools around the world, which have historically incorporated their own cultures and as a result, the art has evolved in a number of distinct ways. See glossary of ballet.

Divertissement is used, in a similar sense to the Italian 'divertimento', for a light piece of music for a small group of players, however the French term has additional meanings.

Jules Perrot French ballet dancer and choreographer

Jules-Joseph Perrot was a dancer and choreographer who later became Beat Boxer of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including Pas de Quatre, La Esmeralda, Ondine, and Giselle with Jean Coralli.

Contents

On the night it premiered in London (12 July 1845), it caused a sensation with the critics and the public alike. The reason for this was that it brought together, on one stage, the four greatest ballerinas of the time — in order of appearance, Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni. (The fifth great Romantic ballerina of the time, Fanny Elssler, had been invited to take part but declined to do so; she was replaced by the young Lucile Grahn who accepted without hesitation.)[ citation needed ]

London Capital of the United Kingdom

London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

Lucile Grahn Danish ballet dancer

Lucile Alexia Grahn-Young was the first internationally renowned Danish ballerina and one of the popular dancers of the Romantic ballet era.

Carlotta Grisi Italian ballet dancer

Carlotta Grisi was an Italian ballet dancer. Born in Visinada, Istria, she was trained at the ballet school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and later with dancer/balletmaster Jules Perrot. She was especially noted for her performance in the classic role of "Giselle".

Pas de Quatre captured the essence of the Romantic style as the ballerinas danced with demure lightness, delicacy, and poise. The steps demand that each area of classical ballet technique is executed. These areas include adagio movements, petite allegro, grand allegro, fast footwork, graceful changes of position, and the elegant and fluid arm movements that have become a signature element of Pas de Quatre. Each ballerina has an individual variation, which are performed in succession between an opening and finale that are danced by all the ballerinas together. These variations were choreographed for the ballerina premiering in each role, and were designed to display the best features of each.

Romantic ballet

The Romantic ballet is defined primarily by an era in ballet in which the ideas of Romanticism in art and literature influenced the creation of ballets. The era occurred during the early to mid 19th century primarily at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique of the Paris Opera Ballet and Her Majesty's Theatre in London. It is typically considered to have begun with the 1827 début in Paris of the ballerina Marie Taglioni in the ballet La Sylphide, and to have reached its zenith with the premiere of the divertissement Pas de Quatre staged by the Ballet Master Jules Perrot in London in 1845. The Romantic ballet had no immediate end, but rather a slow decline. Arthur Saint-Léon's 1870 ballet Coppélia is considered to be the last work of the Romantic Ballet.

History

The order of appearance of the ballerinas was done by age, from youngest to oldest, to squelch further confrontations between them. The original cast of Pas de Quatre only danced four performances together; Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were in attendance on 17 July 1845, at the third of these four performances. [1]

Queen Victoria British monarch who reigned 1837–1901

Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. On 1 May 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India.

Albert, Prince Consort Husband of Queen Victoria

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the husband of Queen Victoria.

Dolin restaging

Nearly one hundred years later, in 1941, the Ballet was restaged by choreographer Anton Dolin. The dancers he used were, in order of appearance: Nathalie Krassovska as Lucile Grahn, Mia Slavenska as Carlotta Grisi, Alexandra Danilova as Fanny Cerrito, and Alicia Markova as Marie Taglioni. Since then many ballet companies and dancers have performed the piece.

Anton Dolin ballet dancer and choreographer

Sir Anton Dolin was an English ballet dancer and choreographer.

Nathalie Krassovska

Nathalie "Natasha" Krassovska (1918–2005) was a Russian born prima ballerina and teacher of classical ballet most noted for her work with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Following her decades-long career, she moved to the U.S., where she founded the Krassovska Ballet Jeunesse. Krassovska taught, choreographed and performed until her death.

Mia Slavenska Croatian ballerina

Mia Slavenska, birth name Mia Čorak, was a Croatian-born American prima ballerina. She formed the Slavenska Ballette Variante and, later, the Theatre Ballette. In 1954, she became the prima ballerina of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

The sole and exclusive rights to perform Dolin's Pas de Quatre were left to Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) dancers Belinda Wright and Jelko Yuresha, husband and wife. Wright and Dolin had known each other since Wright was a young dancer. She had won a Pavlova Award and caught Dolin's attention. Wright was a principal with Dolin's Festival Ballet after years with the Royal Ballet, and her husband Yuresha was a soloist. When Dolin died, his estate, run by his nephew Phillip, bestowed the rights to Pas de Quatre to Wright and Yuresha. Dolin's Pas de Quatre may not be staged, performed, produced or recorded without their permission and their doing the staging. [2]

English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin and based at Markova House in South Kensington, London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the four major ballet companies in Great Britain. English National Ballet is one of the foremost touring companies in Europe, performing in theatres throughout the UK as well as conducting international tours and performing at special events. The Company employs approximately 67 dancers and a symphony orchestra, and there is also an associate school, English National Ballet School, which is independent from the ballet company. The Company regularly performs seasons at the London Coliseum and has been noted for specially staged performances at the Royal Albert Hall. In 2014 English National Ballet became an Associate Company of Sadler's Wells. The Patron of English National Ballet is HRH The Duke of York.

Belinda Wright was an English ballerina noted for romantic and classical roles.

Jelko Yuresha is a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He and his wife, ballerina Belinda Wright, toured internationally as “Ambassadors of Dance” for the United Kingdom from 1966-1977.

Related Research Articles

<i>Giselle</i> ballet

Giselle is a romantic ballet in two acts. It was first performed by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France on 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle. The ballet was an unqualified triumph. Giselle became hugely popular and was staged at once across Europe, Russia, and the United States. The traditional choreography that has been passed down to the present day derives primarily from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg.

Marie Taglioni Italian ballet dancer

Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins was a Swedish ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance. She was one of the most celebrated ballerinas of the romantic ballet, which was cultivated primarily at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, and at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique of the Paris Opera Ballet. She is credited with being the first ballerina to truly dance en pointe.

Fanny Elssler Austrian ballerina

Fanny Elssler was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period.

Filippo Taglioni ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer

Filippo Taglioni was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, the famous Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. Also, although August Bournonville's version is better known, it was Taglioni who was the original choreographer of La Sylphide, in 1832.

Fanny Cerrito Italian ballet dancer

Francesca "Fanny" Cerrito was an Italian ballet dancer and choreographer. She was a ballerina noted for the brilliance, strength, and vivacity of her dancing. She was also one of few women in the 19th century to be recognized for her talent as a choreographer.

Salle Le Peletier theatre of the Paris Opera from 1821 to 1873

The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and constructed by the architect François Debret on the site of the garden of the Hôtel de Choiseul on the rue Lepeletier. Due to the many changes in government and management during the theatre's existence, it had a number of different official names, the most important of which were: Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique (1821–1848), Opéra-Théâtre de la Nation (1848–1850), Théâtre de l'Académie Nationale de Musique (1850–1852), Théâtre de l'Académie Impériale de Musique (1852–1854), Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra (1854–1870), and Théâtre National de l'Opéra (1870–1873).

Pas de quatre (ballet)

Pas de quatre is a French term used to identify a ballet dance for four people. Pas de quatre are usually plotless dances performed as divertissements within the context of a larger work. However, narrative pas de quatre and pas de quatre that stand alone are not unknown.

Pehr Christian Johansson was a teacher, choreographer and balletmaster for the Russian Imperial Ballet. He was engaged at the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1829-41, and at the Imperial Russian Ballet in 1841-66.

Arthur Saint-Léon French ballet dancer

Arthur Saint-Léon was the Maître de Ballet of St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1859 until 1869 and is famous for creating the choreography of the ballet Coppélia.

<i>Le diable à quatre</i> (ballet) ballet

Le Diable à quatre is a ballet in two acts and three scenes, with choreography by Joseph Mazilier, music by Adolphe Adam, and libretto by Adolphe de Leuven, first presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique on 11 August 1845, with Carlotta Grisi and Lucien Petipa.

Women in dance

The important place of women in dance can be traced back to the very origins of civilization. Cave paintings, Egyptian frescos, Indian statuettes, ancient Greek and Roman art and records of court traditions in China and Japan all testify to the important role women played in ritual and religious dancing from the start. In the Middle Ages, what has become known as ballet had its beginnings in Italian court festivals when women frequently played the parts of men. It was however in late 17th-century France that the Paris Opera produced the first celebrated ballerinas. While women began to dominate the ballet scene in the 18th century, it was with the advent of Romantic ballet in the 19th century that they became the undisputed centre of attraction with stars playing the leading roles in the works of Marius Petipa, appearing in theatres across Europe from Milan's La Scala to the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. More recently, women have played a leading role in developing various forms of modern dance including flamenco and expressionist dance.

Sofia Fuoco Italian ballerina, 1830-1916

Sofia Fuoco — Italian ballerina. Was born as Maria Brambilla; her stage name, Fuoco means ″Fire″ in Italian.

References

  1. ↑ "Ballet Lessons Online – Ballet Dictionary online," LearnToDance.com. Accessed Feb. 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Jelko Yuresha Papers". New York Public Library. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
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