Dance in Film · 1976
Pas de Duke (1976)
The 15-minute silent 8mm film preserves Alvin Ailey's original bridge between Judith Jamison's modern-dance authority and Mikhail Baryshnikov's ballet virtuosity, making the work's first celebrated casting—not a later reconstruction—the screen record.
Pas de Duke is a 1976 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 1 indexed dance sequence ↓
Where to watch: Official AILEY Vimeo footage and Jacob's Pillow's free 2024 performance video were live on 2026-08-08; NYPL's 15-minute 1976 Baryshnikov/Jamison film is available for on-site viewing only.
Featured clip
An excerpt — one number from the full work.
The dance sequences in Pas de Duke
1 sequence — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Original Jamison–Baryshnikov filmed pas de deux
Ailey modern dance / classical pas de deux fusionDanced by Judith Jamison; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Jamison and Baryshnikov matching each other toe-to-toe and line-for-line as modern weight and balletic line become a witty contest.
Ailey turns classical pas-de-deux form into a modern-dance exchange built around the performers' contrasting physical and stylistic strengths. The duet's mirroring, flirtation, and playful one-upmanship let virtuosity function as character rather than as an isolated display.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The NYPL item is the exact 1976 original-cast 8 mm filmed-dance record. AILEY verifies the 1976 premiere, performers, choreographer, modern-dance/classical-pas-de-deux hybrid, and current 12-minute stage runtime; the Library of Congress independently confirms the original pairing and interpretation. The supplied taxonomy has no exact Ailey-modern/classical-pas-de-deux fusion key, so the style is explicitly flagged as absent. No public stream of the original archival film, edition-specific timestamp, or original-film clip/deep link was confirmed; authorized AILEY and Jacob's Pillow videos show later performances.
Poster artwork and title data from TMDB. This site uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.