Black Swan Pas de Deux (1957, Plisetskaya and Fadeyechev)

Here is the complete Black Swan Pas de Deux from the rather badly edited 1957 Russian film of the Bolshoi Ballet. Unfortunately there are too many cut away shots to show the “happy Russian people“ enjoying the ballet. Even so, this is a great document to show the 31 year old Maya Plisetskaya at the beginning of her international fame and legendary career. There are other later videos of this, one of her iconic portrayals, but I think this is the most authentic filmed version because it was a live performance when she was still relatively young. I saw her do this live several times 9 years later, and she was even better. I took 6 weeks of classes with her when I was allowed to attend all the Bolshoi Ballet’s company classes and performances. She took an interest in me and gave me private changed my life. Seeing her dance up close in class and on stage opened up the possibilities of dancing classical ballet I had not imagined before. Her version of the seductress, “Odile&