Swan Lake through the years - Pas de trois

A little compilation in a series I have started called "Swan Lake through the years", which presents some of the most famous passages from my favourite ballet and how they have been preserved and/or changed over the years since the original 1895 Petipa/Ivanov production.

In this first compilation are five different stagings of the Pas de trois from Act 1, scene 1. The versions in this video are from the following productions:
1. Royal Ballet - production by Sir Anthony Dowell
2. Mariinsky Ballet - revival by Konstantin Sergeyev
3. American Ballet Theatre - production by Kevin MacKenzie
4. Bolshoi Ballet - production and version by Yuri Grigorovich
5. La Scala Ballet - reconstruction by Alexei Ratmansky

It's interesting how the Pas de trois has not changed too much over the years, except of course in versions like Grigorovich's, but in most productions, it perhaps remains as one of the less changed passages from "Swan Lake".

The original Petipa Pas de trois was performed by Georgy Kyaksht, Olga Preobrazhenskaya and Varvara Rykhlyakova and one reviewer of the 1895 premiere wrote: "...a captivating Pas de Trois, which is technically difficult, is performed en pointe for the most part with multiple turns, and was excellently performed by the Danseuses and their partner."

One thing I should point out about the reconstruction is that the male role is danced Prince Siegfried's best friend Benno. In the 1895 production, Benno was a non-dance role and the male role in the Pas de trois was danced by an anonymous danseur. However, even if it's not what Petipa did, it does make more sense for the male role to be given to Benno.

The more notated choreography I am introduced to, the more I wonder why anyone would even think of changing it and the famous passages from "Swan Lake" are no exception. This series gives us the chance to really compare and contrast how different and/or similar these passages are from the notated Petipa/Ivanov versions.

Enjoy! :)

Видео Swan Lake through the years - Pas de trois канала Amy