Le Corsaire - 'Pas de Deux'

Svetlana Zakharova and Igor Zelensky - Le Corsaire. St Petersburg 300 Years Gala 2003. *** Le Corsaire - is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a scenario originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, loosely based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam, it was first presented by the ballet of the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra in Paris on 23 January 1856. All modern productions of Le corsaire have their roots in the revivals staged by the Ballet Master Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg throughout the mid to late 19th century. The ballet has many celebrated passages which are often extracted from the full-length work and performed independently: the scene Le jardin animé, the Pas d'esclave, the Pas de trois des odalisques, and the so-called Le corsaire pas de deux, which is among classical ballet's most famous and performed excerpts. Today Le Corsaire is performed chiefly in two different versions: those productions derived from the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's 1977 production (initially staged by Pyotr Gusev for the Maly/Mikhailovsky Theatre of Leningrad in 1955); and those derived from the Ballet Master Konstantin Sergeyev's production (initially staged for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet in 1973, and later for the Bolshoi Ballet in 1992).