[2] In addition to the theatrical version with scenery and orchestra, for ten years the Middle Duet was shown around the world as a concert number, not only on theater tours, but also in numerous enterprises, earning a reputation as one of the best one-act ballets in Russia at the beginning of the 21st century.

Ironically, the day of the premiere coincided with the mourning declared on the occasion of the murder of Galina Starovoytova and at the very beginning of the performance, before the opening of the “Evening of New Ballets”, a minute of silence was announced.

A special screening took place on March 13, 2000, in the theater Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko[8] Last year’s “Mask” laureate Alexei Ratmansky showed his best work – “Middle Duet” to Khanon’s music.

[3]Thanks to its success and wide distribution, “The Middle Duet” gradually became the most famous ballet number staged by Ratmansky and acquired the status of a kind of calling card of the young choreographer.

Reviewers noted that against the backdrop of museum monster ballets, Ratmansky's minimalist masterpiece is pure exclusive: “in the attire of the Mariinsky Theater, this number looks like a Givenchy dress among the rags of a flea market”.

An original production by 33-year-old dancer and choreographer Alexei Ratmansky to the music of contemporary composer Yuri Khanon immerses the audience in a gloomy world, where a mysterious duet comes to life in a ray of light: to the sounds of a piano and orchestra, the partner, with pulsating gestures, tries to hold his partner, who continuously moves on pointe shoes, weaving a complex a web of sharp and sensual steps.

Over the ten years of the ballet's existence, dozens of soloists have passed through it, including Svetlana Zakharova, Andrei Merkuryev, Diana Vishneva, Natalia Osipova, Zhanna Ayupova, Igor Kolb, Olesya Novikova, Daria Pavlenko, Evgeniy Golovin, Mikhail Zarubin, Alexey Loparevich[11] and “ even" Alexei Ratmansky himself (as a dancer).

[12] In Europe and the USA the Middle Duet danced: Maria Kowroski, Albert Evans,[13] Rebecca Krohn, Amar Ramasar, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Jonathan Stafford.

[13] It was at this moment, after almost ten years of silence, that the composer of “The Middle Duet” first recalled himself and asked the question: why, since 1998, his work has been used by the largest theaters and enterprises of the country (and the world) with complete disregard for the author?

Neither the Mariinsky, nor the Bolshoi, nor any other theater even thought of obtaining the consent of the author of the music, concluding a contract with him and completing all other elementary formalities.