The Grande Pas Classique is one of the most academic and technically challenging piece among the bellet repertoire.

[The choreographer, Victor Gzovsky] was born in Russia and studied ballet in St Petersburg under the famous Mariinsky ballerina Evgenia Sokolova.

In 1925, he left for Berlin, but later moved to France and after WWII he even held a post of the ballet master at the Paris Opera. In the 1950s – 1970s, Gsovsky worked in Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg, where he staged a number of productions.

Nevertheless, his most known piece is the pas de deux he created in 1949 for his student Yvette Chauviré and her partner Vladimir Skouratoff. Later, Yvette Chauviré coached the magnificent Sylvie Guillem, whose interpretation now seems iconic, don’t you think?

What’s so precious about Sylvie Guillem is that she didn’t just abuse and show off her superb technique. She danced on the music with the right balance of expressionism and classical control.

Bonus: a video footage of the OG choreographer Gzovsky’s student, Yvette, coaching Sylvie Guillem:

@vjsatisfayinggg Chauviré was the first to perform this ballet <3 #balletdancer #pointeshoes #BALLET #rehearsal #operadeparis #sylvieguillem #yvettechauviré ♬ son original - 🩰 VJ Ballet 🩰

Reference

Russian Masters Ballet Official https://russianmastersballet.com/news/grand-pas-classique/