The ballet that incited a riot Iseult Gillespie
We typically think of ballet
as harmonious, graceful and polished–
hardly features that would trigger a riot.
But at the first performance
of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,”
audience members were so outraged
that they drowned out the orchestra.
Accounts of the event include
people hurling objects at the stage,
challenging each other to fights,
and getting arrested–
all on what started
as a sophisticated night at the ballet.
First performed in May 1913
at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
in Paris,
“The Rite of Spring”
is set in prehistoric times.
The narrative follows
an ancient Pagan community
worshipping the Earth
and preparing for the sacrifice of a woman
intended to bring about
the change of seasons.
But the ballet is much more
concerned with the violent relationship
between humans, nature, and culture
than with character or plot.
These themes manifest
in a truly upsetting production
which combines harsh music,
jerky dancing, and uncanny staging.
It opens with dancers
awakening to a solo bassoon,
playing in an eerily high register.
This gives way to discordant strings,
punctured by unexpected pauses
while the dancers twitch to the music.
These frightening figures
enact the ballet’s brutal premise,
which set audiences on edge
and shattered the conventions
of classical music.
In these ways and many more,
“The Rite of Spring”
challenged the orchestral traditions
of the 19th century.
Composed on the cusp
of both the first World War
and the Russian revolution,
“The Rite of Spring” seethes with urgency.
This tension is reflected
in various formal experiments,
including innovative uses of syncopation,
or irregular rhythm;
atonality or the lack of a single key,
and the presence
of multiple time signatures.
Alongside these
strikingly modern features,
Stravinsky spliced in aspects
of Russian folk music–
a combination that deliberately disrupted
the expectations of his sophisticated,
urban audience.
This wasn’t Stravinsky’s
first use of folk music.
Born in a small town
outside of St. Petersburg in 1882,
Stravinsky’s reputation was cemented
with the lush ballet “The Firebird.”
Based on a Russian fairytale,
this production
was steeped in Stravinsky’s fascination
with folk culture.
But he plotted a wilder project
in “The Rite of Spring,”
pushing folk and musical boundaries
to draw out the rawness of pagan ritual.
Stravinsky brought this reverie to life
in collaboration
with artist Nicholas Roerich.
Roerich was obsessed
with prehistoric times.
He had published essays
about human sacrifice
and worked on excavations
of Slavic tombs
in addition to set and costume design.
For “The Rite of Spring,”
he drew from Russian medieval art
and peasant garments to create costumes
that hung awkwardly
on the dancers’ bodies.
Roerich set them against vivid backdrops
of primeval nature;
full of jagged rocks, looming trees
and nightmarish colors.
Along with its dazzling sets
and searing score,
the original choreography
for “The Rite of Spring”
was highly provocative.
This was the doing
of legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky,
who developed dances
to rethink “the roots of movement itself.”
Although Stravinsky
later expressed frustration
with Nijinsky’s demanding rehearsals
and single-minded interpretations
of the music,
his choreography proved
as pioneering as Stravinsky’s composition.
He contorted traditional ballet–
to both the awe and horror
of his audience,
many of whom expected
the refinement and romance of the genre.
The dancing in “The Rite of Spring”
is agitated and uneven,
with performers cowering, writhing
and leaping about as if possessed.
Often, the dancers are not one
with the music
but rather seem to struggle against it.
Nijinsky instructed them
to turn their toes inwards
and land heavily after jumps,
often off the beat.
For the final, frenzied scene,
a woman dances herself to death
to loud bangs and jarring strings.
The ballet ends abruptly on a harsh,
haunting chord.
Today, “The Rite of Spring”
remains as chilling
as its controversial debut,
but the shockwaves of the original work
continue to resound and inspire.
You can hear Stravinsky’s influence
in modern jazz’s dueling rhythms,
folky classical music,
and even film scores for horror movies,
which still illicit
a riotous audience response.