On the apron stage of the Palais Garnier, in close proximity to the audience, the Paris Opera's Étoiles and Premiers Danseurs, accompanied on stage by pianists and a cellist, perform an outstanding selection of solos and duos to music by Saint-Saëns, Satie, Debussy and Chopin. Fokine's La Mort du cygne, a major repertoire classic, portrays the final fluttering of a ballerina become bird. Danced to a bittersweet score, van Manen's Trois Gnossiennes traces the contours of an amorous encounter in understated perfection. Drawn from Act III of La Dame aux camélias, Neumeier's Black Pas de deux carries Marguerite and Armand, the protagonists of Alexandre Dumas fils' novel of the same name, off in a romantic whirlwind where pitch-black fate gives way to intensely white desire, whilst the Pas de deux à la campagne from Act II celebrates their love. Marriott's Clair de lune, a male version of the death of the swan and new to the repertoire, revisits ballet's traditional myth as an ethereal dancer is faced with his own demise. The Opera Ballet's soloists then pay tribute to the wealth of the American style with Robbins' A Suite of Dances, Graham's Lamentation, and Forsythe's Herman Schmerman.