#TBT: Julie Kent and Ethan Stiefel in "Le Corsaire" (1998)

Before—though not long before—they were immortalized as Cooper Nielson and Kathleen Donahue (Center Stage, we’ll never stop loving you), Ethan Stiefel and Julie Kent starred in the 1998 PBS broadcast of American Ballet Theatre’s Le Corsaire. Corsaire‘s choreography may be as cheesy as they come, but what does that matter when you have two of the world’s greatest dancers leading its cast? (The supporting players weren’t too shabby, either—Angel Corella danced Ali the slave, and Vladimir Malakhov the slave trader Lankandem.) Here are Stiefel and Kent in the “bedroom” pas de deux, which includes one of ballet’s most jaw-dropping lifts (at 3:23, for the record). Happy #ThrowbackThursday!