NUTCRACKER GRAND PAS DE DEUX (Violette Verdy, Edward Villella)

Now for something truly wonderful for all my dance friends. Violette Verdy and Edward Villella in their absolute prime (1961) in the Grands Pas De Deux from the NUTCRACKER in the Petipa/Ivanov version (not Balanchine's which they usually did). The Adagio is very traditional as is her variation...however she does do the very difficult consecutive releves with double ronds de jambs which was in Balanchine's original version. Villella I think does his own solo and Coda. Anyway, the attention to detail, musicianship, and shear love of dancing (as adverse to acrobatics) is a lesson for us all. Her port de bras, epaulement, and cleanliness of foot work stands the test of time, and Villella shows here why he was one of the world's greatest dancers and America's darling. Masculine yet elegant...and really bravura technique. I think this is the best recording of him in his prime I've ever seen. No wonder Balanchine choreographed so many ballets for him.