pas de deux

nounC2Not compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

A pas de deux is a showpiece in ballet danced by a leading man and woman together. Dance a pas de deux.

It has a set shape: an opening together, a solo each, and a fast finish. The pas de deux is where the lifts are, and where a company is judged.

Definitions of pas de deux

1nounpas de deuxIn ballet, a showpiece danced by a leading man and woman together, borrowed from French.C2
“The pas de deux got four minutes of applause.”

pas de deux is a dance.

French for step of two. The four-part form was fixed in the nineteenth century, and audiences of the time expected each section in its place.

Borrowed from French pas de deux literally “step of two”. Compare paso doble.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Dance