Reconstructing the Riot of The Rite of Spring

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Reconstructing the Riot of The Rite of Spring

What The Rite of Spring demands from a ballet company is the complete unlearning of classical technique. When Vaslav Nijinsky choreographed the 1913 premiere in Paris, he instructed the highly trained dancers to turn their feet inward and hunch their shoulders.

Rarely had a Parisian audience witnessed such an aggressive departure from grace and tradition. The unconventional movements, paired with Igor Stravinsky’s dissonant and percussive score, provoked a famous riot in the theatre on opening night.

Today, the rhythmic complexity of the music remains a formidable challenge. Stravinsky constantly shifted the time signatures throughout the piece, meaning that the musicians must count the beats relentlessly, and the dancers must do so too.

During that chaotic first performance, the noise from the crowd grew so loud that the performers could no longer hear the orchestra.