Another anniversary: The Rite of Spring

[Stavros]

The ballet, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) was first performed in Paris 100 years today.

People remember the Rite's premier because it 'caused a riot', whereas in fact it was a commotion: the ballet is in two parts: The Adoration of the Earth, and The Sacrifice. In the first part, o the night in question, members of the audience greeted the opening bassoon solo with catcalls, allegedly during the dancing some threw vegetables into the orchestra pit and the choreographer, Nijinsky had to call out the steps from the wings because the dancers couldn't hear the music. The police were called. The impresario, Diaghilev, was delighted.

The Ballets Russes transformed ballet and modern dance, at a time when audiences had been fed -as they are now- on a diet of classical pieces such as Giselle, Coppelia, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. Diaghilev brought modernism to a stale art form, and with it a vibrant sense of movement, artistic scenery, and contemporary music. Stravinsky himself owed his reputation to Diaghilev -a flamboyant homosexual with an incendiary temper- with the ballets Petrushka (1910) and The Firebird (1911) both key to Ballet Russes success in Paris. One of Diaghilev's dancers, Olga Khokhlova became Picasso's first wife (see Chapter 1 of Volume 3 of John Richardson's biography of Picasso for an entertaining account of 1913).

The probem was that the choreographer for the Stravinsky ballets, Mikhail Fokine, had parted company with his boss and lover, and Diaghilev had to replace him with the erratic genius of Nijinsky, who had put on a ballet based on Debussy's music The afternoon of a faun, in which Nijinsky appeared to be -possibly was- masturbating on the stage. The Rite of Spring opened at a low moment for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, the 'scandal' saved the company.

Two things stand out about the Rite, in the context of ballet and modern dance: 1) it departs from the traditional themes of dance: romantic love, unrequited love, jealousy and deception: the Rite is based on myth and primitive ritual. 2) there are no parts for star dancers: apart from the 300 year old woman, the wise old man, and the Chosen One, traditionally soloists not stars, The Rite is entirely an ensemble piece. Stravinsky's music is harsh, brutal and thrilling.

The links below should help: the first is the reconstruction of the Nijinsky staging by the Joffrey Ballet of Los Angeles, complete with what one critic called its 'knock-kneed lolitas'- there is another complete Rite on YouTube by Gergiev from the Kirov in St Petersburg but the dancing is uninspired and the music too slow.

The second is The sacrificial dance that ends the Rite by the brilliat Maurice Bejart which emphasises the group nature of the dance;

The last is a compilation of the Sacrificial Dance: the Nijinsky version given a twist by Millicent Hodson (and danced in the premiere's location, Theatre de Champs Elysees), the stunning interpretation by the German choreographer Pina Bausch; the third is by the Albanian Angelin Preljocai in which the Chosen One (a Japanese dancer) is stripped naked and dances on an altar: big mistake as the opportunity for embarrassment in nude dancing is obvious and it diminishes the art of ballet, even if she does have a superb body; the last, choreographed by Taro Saarinen swaps a girl for a boy and it beyond comment, other than that the silly tutu he wears robs the piece of its meaning and seriousness.

Enjoy!

Joffrey Ballet with Original Choreography by Nijinsky:


Maurice Bejart: Sacrifical Dance:


Compilation of the Sacrificial Dance (intro in French)

[Gillian]

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