Pas de trois. French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 term usually referring to a dance in ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

 between three people. Typically a Pas de trois in ballet consists of 6 parts -

1. The Entrée (the opening number for the 3 dancers, usually preceded by a short introduction)
2. Variation
   Variation (ballet)
   Variation or Classical Variation in ballet is a solo dance. As with an Aria in opera, which allows the singer to demonstrate his or her interpretive skills, the variation in ballet has the same function...
   
    (or solo) for the 1st dancer
3. Variation for the 2nd dancer
4. Variation for the 3rd dancer
5. the Coda (a finale usually set to music of a quick tempo in which the dancers bring the piece to a spectacular finish)

Today, the most celebrated Pas de trois in the classical ballet repertory are derived from the works of the great choreographer Marius Petipa

Marius Petipa

Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....

. Although the Balletmaster created many Pas de trois for the near 150 ballets he created throughout his career in Russia, only three survive - the Pas de trois des Odalisques from his revival of the ballet Le Corsaire

Le Corsaire

Le Corsaire is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam, it was first presented by the ballet of...

(set to the music of Adolphe Adam

Adolphe Adam

Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...

 and Cesare Pugni

Cesare Pugni

Cesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...

, choreographed for 3 women), the Paquita Pas de trois added to his 1881 revival of the ballet Paquita

Paquita

Paquita is a ballet in two acts and three scenes, with libretto by Joseph Mazilier and Paul Foucher. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Edouard Deldevez. First presented by at the Salle Le Peletier by the Paris Opera Ballet on 1 April 1846...

(set to the music of Ludwig Minkus

Ludwig Minkus

Ludwig Minkus a.k.a. Léon Fyodorovich Minkus was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violin virtuoso and teacher.Minkus is most noted for the music he composed while serving as Ballet Composer of the St...

 and Eduard Deldevez; sometimes referred to as the Golden Pas de trois or Minkus Pas de trois; choreographed for 2 women and one man), and the Pas de trois from the first act of his 1895 revival of the ballet Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...

(choreographed for 2 women and one man).

Typically Petipa fashioned the Entrée of a Pas de trois in such a way so that the dancer who performs the first variation

Variation (ballet)

Variation or Classical Variation in ballet is a solo dance. As with an Aria in opera, which allows the singer to demonstrate his or her interpretive skills, the variation in ballet has the same function...

exits the stage about 3 quarters of the way through in order to rest and prepare for his or her solo.