Pas de deux (1968)

Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal multi and after-image effect visuals.

Director:

Norman McLaren

Stars:

Margaret Mercier, Vincent Warren

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Margaret Mercier	...	Dancer
Vincent Warren	...	Dancer

Storyline

Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal multi and after-image effect visuals.

---

Plot Keywords:

ballet | dance | avant garde | surrealism | number in title | 

---

Genres:

Animation | Short | Musical

---

Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Created using an optical printer to reprint images from one frame onto another.

---

Connections

Edited into Animation Favorites from the National Film Board of Canada (1994)

User Reviews

Talk about serendipity --

In 1969 I went to a middle-class matinée showing of "Easy Rider". At the break, we all got up to leave, happily surfeited with the phony, sad (and politically correct for the times) ending. Any southern redneck would shoot a hippy on sight. Okay. We bought that and started shifting around in preparation to leaving.

Then as I remember it, a single word appeared on a dead black screen. "Duo". A back-lit ballerina pirhoutted across that screen and danced away from her own still image. She did it again. We were mesmerized.

Ten seconds of stunned silence followed the last frame. The applause that followed had a quality I can only describe as "awed".

Breathtakingly beautiful, that's all.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

None

Release Date:

October 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ballerina Margaret Mercer

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

13 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1