One of the most significant dance techniques in Swan Lake is the pas de deux, or "dance of two." A pas de deux involves two dancers, most commonly a man and a woman, dancing together. In Swan Lake, the pas de deux is significant in contrasting the relationships between Prince Siegfried, Odette, and Odile.
When the prince and Odette dance their pas de deux in the second act, the effect is romantic. Their interactions start out slow, emphasizing Odette's reluctance, but as the dance progresses, Odile starts to trust him more. This is mirrored in the dance: in the way she allows him to circle his waist with her arm, in the way she allows him to dip her back. The dance becomes an expression of their growing love for one another, not only through the intimacy of the dance itself but through the way the dancers themselves move.
This all changes when the prince dances with Odile in the third act. Her movements in the dance are far more aggressive and sensual, much faster than the languid movements of Odette earlier; even when she is dancing away from Siegfried, as Odette did, the effect is one of coy flirtation rather than a reluctance toward intimacy. The prince's movements suggest a young man besotted sexually rather than the sweet intimacy of the earlier pas de deux with Odette, his true love.
The differences between the executions of the same type of dance draw contrasts between Siegfried's relationships with these two chracters: Odette inspires love, while Odile inspires lust.
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