#TBT: Pas de Quatre, a 1968 Recreation
On a summer stage in 1845, nearly 170 years ago to the day, four superstar ballerinas put aside their bitter rivalries and graced a single stage. Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito and Marie Taglioni—defining figures in ballet’s history—performed in Jules Perrot’s Pas de Quatre. Such collaboration between divas of the day was unprecedented, and Perrot choreographed the piece to showcase each prima’s particular talents.
The original cast gave only four performances, and it’s a shame that video technology wasn’t around to capture the legendary dancers. However, their sylphlike legacy lives on in a re-imagined version choreographed by Anton Dolin. In this 1968 clip, four Kirov dancers, Ludmilla Kovaleva, Gabriela Komleva, Yelena Yevteyeva and Lubov Galinskaya, represent each of the iconic ballerinas. They pay an elegant tribute to the ethereal, romanticized style of ballet in 19th-century France. Let us know what four ballerinas you would most love to see dance together in Pas de Quatre. Happy #ThrowbackThursday!
