pas de deux (roland petit)

Roland Petit's Carmen (1949) is one of the most famous dance adaptations of Bizet's opera (he was not very much inspired by Mérimée's novella). It is a one act ballet, divided into five scenes. Petit did not faithfully follow Bizet's score and had José dance to the habanera, the song used by Bizet to introduce the figure of Carmen. The premiere took place in London and it had an immediate success. One of the most popular scenes is the third scene which is characterised by a beautiful pas de deux between Carmen and José, a duet famous for its explicit erotic moves. Here are two links to this duet, one (which is preceded by Carmen dancing for José) performed by Zizi Jeanmaire who was the first to interpret Carmen, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, the other danced by Alessandra Ferri and Laurent Hilaire.