Dos:
Trust Your Partner: Men and ladies alike, please trust your partner. Trust is the most important thing in a relationship, including this one. From experience, I know when my partner does not trust me, and he knows when I do not trust him. Not only does this save a lot of falls, injuries, etc., but also hesitation. Hesitation leads to differences in time. Please, be faithful with your partner. He will not let you fall, and she will not make you carry her weight.
Please hold your core (ladies): It does not matter how much you weigh, but my last partners have told me that if I hold my center, it is easier to lift me. Take it like this, it is easier to carry an alive person then a dead person since an alive person is aware and holds their own weight. If we do not hold our center, our partners will be carrying "dead" weight.
Communicate: You would not believe how many falls I have experience because my partner and I did not have good communication. If you communicate with your partner, you know exactly how it is going to happen. I wish I knew this before I took a pas de deux class.
Confidence in yourself: Have confidence in yourself, but do not be arrogant. If you are confident and sure of yourself, you are less likely to wobble. The less you wobble, the easier it is on your partner. Girls, if your partner drops you, it is not their fault. Boys, if your partner falls, it is not entirely your and hers fault. It is both of yours. Compromise :).
Tell your partner what they can improve in: If you do not tell, the teacher will, and I hate to get a scolding from a teacher. If you tell your partner, they will know what to fix.
Take advice from your partner: This will make you a better dancer, and hopefully, next time it would run much more smoothly.
Know your partner: My teacher had an assignment where we had to hang out with each other for a day. Not only does this creates new friends (and hopefully not enemies), but it breaks the ice and relaxes both of you. Knowing your partner and how they work makes it easier on you, and your partner is not a random person.
Make eye contact: During pas de deux, you do not actually talk, but you can see if he or she is struggling or not. Plus, on stage you are going to have to do it anyway, so practice now.
Don'ts:
Blame your partner for the entire mistake: It is a partnership, not a servant and master relationship. In doing so, you are disrespecting your partner, making the relationship more unsteadily.
Wearing strappy, low back, slippery leotards (ladies): His hands are already sweaty, why make the situation worse. The last thing you want is for his hands to get caught into your leotard, slip from your body during a lift, or touch somewhere skin is exposed that is less than comfortable.
Coming unprepared: Please, no dead pointe shoes or running tights. It will just make everything more difficult and causes more work on your partner.
Making your partner do all of the work (ladies, sometimes men): Ladies, with the exception of press lifts, please, it will be so much easier if you will jump into a lift. It takes a lot for him to get you into the air, and if you jump, some of the work is already done. It is a partnership.
Wearing anything loose: Loose pants, shirts, etc. will end up flinging into his face during pirouettes. For men, it is better since you can see your lines and she will less likely to slow down during pirouettes because she keeps hitting your shirt.
Not keeping the relationship professional during class: No one wants PDA or horseplaying. We can do that all we want outside of class, but during, you should keep in professional. I have never seeked a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with my partners since I saw them more like friends. I have seen some people do it, but when they break up, the relationship in class is awkward.
All in all, respect and be kind to your partner, he or she is just as nervous as you are. Anyway, these things I just learned from experience and wished someone told me these things before. Of course, in every pas de deux relationship, it is not always the same, they have their own quirks. Dancing with different people causes you to have a different experience. Happy dancing!
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