Feel the raw energy of Stravinsky's score and the anguish of moral conflict, brought to an end through violent sacrifice.
Picture a perfect evening in Paris, 29 May 1913 – the world premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Turns out it didn't go quite so perfectly as planned. Its pulsating rhythms were considered so outrageous and avant-garde that it caused a riot in the auditorium. There was complete pandemonium and it's rumoured the police were even called to calm the enraged crowd.
Christopher Hampson's The Rite of Spring made waves of its own with audiences and critics alike. The Herald says ‘go see for yourself how [Hampson] uses the familiar Stravinsky score to power a bruising broth of sibling rivalry.'
Intense and visceral, Christopher Hampson's The Rite of Spring, created originally for Atlanta Ballet, is presented 100 years after the original production revolutionised the world of dance and music.
Set to Stravinsky's exhilarating score, performed live by the full Scottish Ballet Orchestra, Hampson uses three dancers to reinvent the now infamous story of remorseless human sacrifice with brutal physicality and primal energy.
This challenging work examines themes of violence, obedience and domination.
Part 1 – Then
In a place sheltered from the outside world, two brothers (one older, one younger) are immersed in their own thoughts and strong beliefs. They perform their daily rituals.
The brothers' world is disrupted by the arrival of a woman, Faith.
Part 2 – Now
In a place cut-off from the outside world the younger brother is imprisoned and dominated by the intense beliefs of his older brother.
The younger brother is presented with an escape in the form of a woman, Death.