Choreography: Vaslav
Nijinsky
Scene plan: Igor
Stravinsky and Nicholas Roerich
Reconstructed and staged:
Millicent Hodson
Decor and costumes:
after Nicholas Roerich (1913)
Reconstructed and supervised:
Kenneth Archer
World premiere: 29 May
1913,
Ballets Russes de Diaghilev, Theatre
des Champs-Elysees, Paris
Premiere at the Mariinsky
Theatre: 9 June 2003
Running time: 40
minutes
About
The Rite of Spring:
Its
première at the Théâtre des
Champs-Élysées, Paris, on May
29,
1913 caused a veritable scandal. The
audience was shocked by the
primitive violence of the ballet. It
was so radically rejected that the
ballet was cancelled after eight
performances.
Although long forgotten, thanks to
the relentless work of Millicent
Hodson, Nijinsky's original
choreography was recreated. After
fifteen years' research, notably
helped by Marie Rambert who had been
Nijinsky's assistant, she managed to
recreate the original Rite of
Spring, which was performed by
the Joffrey Ballet on September 30,
1987 in Los
Angeles.
In
this work, Igor Stravinsky further
developed the rhythm and harmony,
elements he had already experimented
with in his first two ballets, the
Firebird and Petrouchka.
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