Pas de Dix
Choreographer: George Balanchine
Music: Glazunov
Pas de Dix, translated from French, as “a dance for ten,” was born of Balanchine’s fond recollections of his student days in Russia. He had danced in Petipa’s original production of Glazunov’s Raymonda at the Maryinsky Theatre, and the spirited last act of Raymonda was seed to this ballet. It is, in fact, the spirit and not the specific which is retained, for Balanchine’s Pas de Dix is a spectacle without story, a series of dances for an ensemble of eight with two principal dancers.
Petipa’s original choreography followed the narrative line of Raymonda. (The last act celebrated the nuptials of Lady Raymonda and the Count Jean de Brienne.) Balanchine added a brilliant introduction and conclusion incorporating typically Hungarian folk dance.
The classical and ethnic dance styles mingled here are paralleled in Glazunov’s score.
World Premiere: November 1955, New York City Ballet, City Center
Kansas City Ballet Premiere: May 1981, Kansas City, Missouri