''Grand Pas de Quatre'' is a ''

ballet 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 and highly technical form of ...

divertissement ''Divertissement'' (from the French 'diversion' or 'amusement') 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. During the 17th and ...

'' choreographed by

Jules Perrot Jules-Joseph Perrot (18 August 1810 – 29 August 1892) was a dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including ...

in 1845, on the suggestion of Benjamin Lumley, Director at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

, to music composed by

Cesare Pugni Cesare Pugni (; russian: Цезарь Пуни, Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802 in Genoa – ) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orches ...

. On the night it premiered in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(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 Lucile Alexia Grahn-Young (30 June 1819 – 4 April 1907) was the first internationally renowned Danish ballerina and one of the popular dancers of the Romantic ballet era. Grahn studied from a young age at the Royal Danish Theatre School i ...

Carlotta Grisi Carlotta Grisi (born Caronne Adele Josephine Marie Grisi; 28 June 1819 – 20 May 1899) was an Italian ballet dancer. Born in Visinada, Istria (present-day Vižinada, Croatia). Although her parents were not involved in the theatre, she was broug ...

Fanny Cerrito Francesca "Fanny" Cerrito (11 May 1817 – 6 May 1909) 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 r ...

, and

Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...

. (The fifth great Romantic ballerina of the time,

Fanny Elssler Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 181027 November 1884) was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period. Life and career She was born in Gumpendorf, a neighborhood of Vienna. Her father Johann Florian Elssler was a second ge ...

, had been invited to take part but declined to do so; she was replaced by the young Lucile Grahn who accepted without hesitation.) ''Pas de Quatre'' captured the essence of the

Romantic style Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

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.

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 Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and Prince Albert were in attendance on 17 July 1845, at the third of these four performances.

Dolin's version

Nearly one hundred years later, in 1941, a new version of ''Pas de quatre'' was staged by choreographer Anton Dolin. The dancers he used were, in order of appearance:

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 found ...

as Lucile Grahn,

Mia Slavenska Mia Slavenska, née Čorak (20 February 1916 in Brod-na-Sava, now Croatia, then Austria-Hungary – 5 October 2002 in Los Angeles, United States) was a Croatian-American soloist of the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo in 1938–1952 and 1954–1955 ...

as Carlotta Grisi,

Alexandra Danilova Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova (''Russian'': Александра Дионисьевна Данилова; November 20, 1903 – July 13, 1997) was a Russian-born prima ballerina, who became an American citizen. In 1989, she was recognized f ...

as Fanny Cerrito, and

Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internation ...

as Marie Taglioni. Since then many ballet companies have performed the piece. The sole and exclusive rights to perform Dolin's ''Pas de Quatre'' were left to

Festival Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottis ...

(now

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

) 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 The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, 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.

The music

The original music was composed by

but only used for the four performances in July 1845 at Her Majesty's Theatre with the great ballerinas Grahn, Grisi, Cerrito and Taglioni. No further performance took place in the next decades. The publisher Julien issued Pugni's piano version immediately following the sussessful premiere. Pugni's autograph orchestral score is preserved in the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Nevertheless, the new choreography of Anton Dolin made use of an orchestral arrangement prepared by composer Leighton Lucas from the original piano score. American Ballet Theatre, Repertory Archive. Since then several other composers created orchestral versions from the piano score of Cesare Pugni, like William McDermott, Daniel Stirn or Peter March.

References

{{Authority control Ballets by Jules Perrot 1845 compositions Ballets by Cesare Pugni 1845 ballet premieres