Dance in Film · 1968
Pas de deux (1968)
Norman McLaren turns Ludmilla Chiriaeff's choreography for Margaret Mercier and Vincent Warren into a landmark dance-for-camera work, using precise optical printing so their white silhouettes leave rhythmic motion traces across a black field.
Pas de deux is a 1968 dance film centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 2 indexed dance sequences ↓
Where to watch: The official NFB viewing page was live and exposed the film player on 2026-08-08; the page also displayed rent and buy controls, so access mode may vary by location or account.
The dance sequences in Pas de deux
2 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Margaret Mercier's multiplied solo
Classical BalletDanced by Margaret Mercier · Choreography Ludmilla Chiriaeff
A white-lit ballerina splitting into a moving chorus of after-images against a completely black studio.
McLaren's staggered optical exposures turn Mercier's solo into a dialogue with successive images of herself, making the path and timing of each ballet phrase visible as a luminous chain.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. The official NFB page offers Rent and Buy access and credits Mercier and Chiriaeff. Aeon explicitly describes the woman dancing alone before her partner enters; McLaren's NFB technical notes explain the up-to-eleven staggered exposures. No edition-specific timestamp or verified public Legend slug was inferred.
Mercier and Vincent Warren pas de deux
Classical BalletDanced by Margaret Mercier; Vincent Warren · Choreography Ludmilla Chiriaeff
The pair's glowing silhouettes multiplying through the lifts before the separate traces collapse into unified figures.
When Warren joins Mercier, classical partnering and lifts become inseparable from McLaren's image chains: bodies repeatedly fan outward, catch up, and resolve into one form, turning cinematic timing into part of the duet.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. The NFB identifies Mercier and Warren, Ludmilla Chiriaeff's choreography, and the back-lit black set. Aeon documents the man's entrance and duet; the official technical notes describe the narrative's movement toward final ecstasy and the optical collapse from multiple images to one. No edition-specific timestamp or verified public Legend slug was inferred.
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