Shall We Pas de Deux?

ballet a theatrical artform using dancing, music, and scenery to convey a story, theme or atmosphere; also, dancing in which conventional poses and steps are combined with light flowing figures (as leaps and turns)

pas de deux a dance or figure for two performers; also, an intricate relationship involving two parties or things

The Nutcracker Ballet, seen by millions during the Christmas season, onstage or in TV reruns, is one of the best examples of the two definitions. Whether it is performed by a professional dance troupe or by hometown dancers, it is delightful. It tells the story of a young girl who has attended a gala family Christmas party, and afterwards falls asleep clutching her favorite gift, a wooden Nutcracker doll. In her dream, the Nutcracker comes to life as a handsome Prince and leads her to see a spectacular series of performances. When she awakens, the Nutcracker is once again her beloved wooden toy.

Professional ballet dancers, male and female, are well-trained athletes. The men appear to have superhuman strength as they perform their leaps, turns, and seem to hover in mid-air. They also lift and join the small, fragile ballerinas in dance - but it must be remembered that the "small, fragile" dancers are also athletes, feminine and graceful though they are. Every muscle in a dancer's body is strong as steel and flexible as rubber. Ballet is a strenuous discipline; its dancers may only perform at their best for a limited number of years.

The Chicago Bear's football coach, some years ago, sent some of his players to have
ballet lessons in order to better perform their maneuvers on the playing field, which leads to this vignette:

A ballet studio. There are twenty or thirty teenage girls, clad in black leotards and tights, wearing soft ballet slippers. They are practicing ballet positions. Among them is a huge Bear's football player practicing along with them.A waltz tune is being played by a pianist. Suddenly the huge man leaves the line, takes the hand of one of the girls and, side by side, hand in hand they dance a weaving pas de deux across the studio, ending at the feet of the annoyed ballet instructor who is standing arms akimbo and frowning. The music stops. The lesson continues.

That young girl was Odysseuse, who has never forgotten that glorious light-as-air minute.

Have you attended a ballet perfomance? Or a dance recital of any kind? Have you taken dance lessons? Do you sometimes wish you had?

William Butler Yeats wrote

O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance?