The Rite of Spring

The Rite of Spring The Rite of Spring is a ballet/orchestral piece composed by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky. Premiering on May 29th, 1913, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées, The Rite of Spring was one of the most controversial and scandalous scores in the history of music and dance. Featuring elements of pagan sacrifice, outrageous costumes, and strange choreography, the performance started a riot in the audience and as a result, the choreography was never played along with the original music composition. While the latter has been played numerous times as a stand-alone orchestral piece, the dance hasn’t been as popular as time went on. It was however, recreated by several contemporary choreographers, namely Millicent Hodson, Maurice Bejart, Pina Bausch. After watching all three choreographies of the ballet, I felt that Millicent Hosdon’s rendition provided the best relationship between the dance and the music. I believe that music played along with dance can really enhance the performance of each. Alone, each one my sound or look good, but if they are effectively combined, it is quite a sight to behold. I felt that Hodson achieved just that in his version. Throughout the performance, I felt that the dancers really moved their bodies in a way that complimented the ups and downs of the musical score very effectively. I noticed from the 3:00 minute mark to about the 3:35 mark of Part Two, a real synergy between the beat and the physical gestures of the dancers. As the trumpets finished accenting their notes, the dancer’s feet landed on the ground almost simultaneously. This process lasted throughout those thirty five seconds and really illustrated the attention and respect the dancers gave the music. The fact that such a small detail was accounted for also shows how much time Hodson placed into the choreography. Furthermore, in the latter part of that section at around the 3:25 mark, you hear the percussionist banging the timpani as the male footsteps banged the floor as the dancers landed. However, as the female dancers tiptoed across the floor, the trumpets played very staccato and high notes. I believe Hodson did this to emphasize the gender difference and to illustrate that men were strong and required a powerful instrument like the timpani while women were smoother and more elegant. The body language to music relationship is also emphasized in the fourth clip at the 1:03 mark to the 1:53 mark. The dancers are circling a person who is to be sacrificed and they really moved their legs with respect to the music. At 1:03, the timpanist starts to play and the dancers start stepping in dramatic fashion and forming a circle around the sacrificial victim. This also helped create a suspenseful atmosphere as the audience is waiting desperately to see what is going to happen to the victim. At the 1:17 mark, the dancers kick up their legs in response to the strings being played. Next, at 1:28, the trumpets dictate what the arms of the dancers to and as the trumpets play a note, the arms of the dancers would rise emphatically. This was repeated thru the 1:52 mark until the dancers dropped to the ground with a thud, just as the brass plays a single note with a hint of cadence. This extreme attention to detail is the main reason why I feel Hodson’s version best encapsulates what Stravinsky was trying to illustrate in his music. Maurice Bejart’s recreation of the dance was the one I felt that least resembled the picture I envisioned when I heard the music the first time. Throughout the clip, the dancers really didn’t seem to flow with the music. When the music was accented, the dancers swayed and when the music was rather serene and smooth, there dancers would jerk their bodies. That gave the performance a sense of imbalance and lack of harmony. From 2:02 to 2:20, there is a period of the dancers standing there and staring at each other. Meanwhile, the music was very up-tempo and aggressive. At 2:13 in particular, the trumpets blared at a forte level while the dancers hardly moved. That just created an asymmetric mood and made me think that the choreographer didn’t pay as much attention to how the dancers play off the music like Hodson did. The same thing was evident at the 7:13 mark. It appears that the dancers were setting up for something similar to a conga line. Based on the way the strings were playing, I expected to see a lot of kicking and intense dancing. Instead, the dancers just held each other by the waist and walked around at a slightly fast pace. As a result, the whole dance to music relationship seemed to be a little off and the choreographer could have made a few adjustments to make this a successful recreation. The third version of Nijinsky’s dance is by Pina Bausch. This one was one of those “in between” choreographies for me. There were instances where the dance looked really in tune with the music and other times it very off in various different areas. One of those places was 3:08 of the sacrificial dance. The trumpets, timpani, and bass drum are playing furiously and heavily accenting their notes. However, the main dancer is contorting her body in a slightly graceful manner. She should be moving her body very quickly and making twists and turns with a sense of urgency. She should also keep a more consistent pace. The music stayed at the same Allegro tempo but her dancing changed speeds from time to time. At 1:35, Bausch does an excellent job preparing for the sacrifice. The bass drum dictates the footsteps of the dancers and the trumpet plays a powerful and loud melody. It also sets up the mood and prepares the audience for the impending sacrifice. This establishing of the suspenseful tone is a key reason the dancers stop dancing for about thirty seconds and build up the tension until the lead dancer breaks loose and dances as a soloist. Watching the three different choreographies for The Rite of Spring was quite the illuminating experience. Never before have I looked so closely at the relationship between the dancers and the musicians. In order for a ballet or dance to be successful, the physical gestures of the dancers and the dynamics of the notes by the composer need to coexist. An example in which that happened was in Millicent Hodson’s version of the ballet. He was very methodical in joining the music and the dancers so they can work off of each other. Pina Bausch also had a great rendition but it lacked a few things that made Hodson’s so good. Lastly, Maurice Bejart’s view of it seemed to be a little shaky for me as I didn’t see much chemistry between the dance and the music.