male coda compilation [ Ссылка ]
coda fishdives compilation [ Ссылка ]

Two full-length versions of the Tchai Pas de Deux were documented during Mr.B's lifetime: The one from 1962 and the one from 1978. In between there was at least another one for Villella (only a coda fragment released - late 1960s?), and one for Farrell/Martins (coda released 1977).

The 1962 version of the male variation is the longest because the first section (cabrioles) was repeated with a different choreography (pirouettes). The last section consists of cabrioles devant and a line of tours.

For the 1978 version Mr.B made lots of changes, some of them obvious, and some less so.
The obvious changes are in the middle section. He cut the music for the pirouettes, and replaced the three cabrioles devant with four grand sissones like the ones in T&V followed by four entrechats.
Less obvious are the other entrechats on the ascending part of the sissones (probably recycled from his own Swan Lake), and the changes in the tours section (grande coupe ballonnes in between the jumps, 4th position of the arms, five turns combination at the end). He also increased the tempo for good measure, and called it a day.

The 1978 version was the one used for subsequent stagings, with the exception of the two performances around 1990 (Was the choreo for grabs? They changed almost everything... Or did Mr.B fiddle with it again after 1978?)

With new stagings for new companies (POB, Mariinsky) came also the urge to "improve" it. First thing they did was slowing down the tempo (NYCB may have preserved the original one). Next thing to go were the entrechats on the sissones, sometimes also one or two or all entrechats afterwards. Back to 1st position of the arms for the double tours.

Then they changed the jumps of the first section: The French did two cabrioles and a tour, the Russians a cabriole and an ssemble tour or saut de basque, NYCB something looking suspiciously like the first line of jumps of ABT's old Don Quixote cups variation sans cups, and ABT something looking like a jump out of Petit's first Dame de Pique version. Perhaps this is a form of cross-pollination :-)

The ending was also changed and looks now like a T&V rip off; it allows the dancer to squeeze in an extra turn, and sometimes even two.

On the whole it's still the same old variation - but less energetic, less subtle, more posey and 1-2 turns more at the end. What happened to it is exactly what happened to almost every other classical variation in the last 25 years. Generic Bravura Variation for Lyrical Dancer with High Extensions.

For the montage I used footage available on YT. Many thanks to the uploaders. I wish I could remember all the links...

1962 d'Amboise [ Ссылка ]
1978 Baryshnikov [ Ссылка ]
1989 Legris
1990s Solimosyi [ Ссылка ]
2000 Zelensky [ Ссылка ]
2002 Sarafanov
2000s Legris
2000s Moreau [ Ссылка ]
2000s Paquette
2007 Fadeyev [ Ссылка ]
2008 Carbone
2010 Hallberg
2010s Phillips
2010s de Luz [ Ссылка ]
2012 Bittencourt
2012 Merkuriev [ Ссылка ]

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