The Rite of Spring

The Rite of Spring (Le sacre du printemps) is a cult musical work of the 20th century, representing not only a turning point in the musical poetics of Stravinsky as a composer but also a turning point in music history. Moreover, through this work, we follow the evolution of dance in the 20th century, from the first 1913 rendition by Vaclav Nijinsky in Paris to the present day. Therefore, it is no surprise that Edward Clug‘s staging draws its inspiration from Nijinsky’s original dance creation, which was considered (too) hermetic and “disturbingly” provocative at the time. Clug’s choreography of the Rite of Spring can thus be viewed as a tribute to Nijinsky and his infamous debacle after the Paris premiere, which became a dynamic foundation for further development of modern dance in the 20th century.

The Rite of Spring is undoubtedly a masterpiece of cult proportions of the 20th century. It does not just represent a turnabout within Stravinsky’s music poetics, but also in history of music. Furthermore, the entire evolution of the 20th century dance performance reflects in The Rite, starting with Nijinsky’s staged choreography and onwards, especially in Béjart’s majestic aestheticism and Pina Bausch‘s unique creativity and lust for life. The latter two ‘principles’ have become a distinctive paradigm of the 20th century in their own right, influencing the majority of all subsequent staged choreographies.
The original Nijinsky’s production represents an initiation of my own choreography, in respect of its hermits and ‘disturbing’ avant-gardism character at that time. My interpretation of The Rite could also be perceived as a personal tribute to Nijinsky and the infamous (lack of) ‘success’ of the world premiere in Paris, which has indeed become a dynamic platform of development for modern dance in the 20th century.
This interpretation of The Rite follows the original libretto and music texture, which both depict a legend from pagan (pre-Christian) Russia. The legend conveys a story about ritual sacrifice of a (virgin) maiden, who has to dance to death, in order to restore fertility of the Earth, and regain the benevolence of the pagan spring deity. In the iconographic aspect, the performance employs the ethnographic symbols of the ancient Russian legend, i.e. women with long braid of hair and rosy cheeks, and men with full-grown beards – both being sex symbols, transposed into the contemporary world – in which everything is prepared for the new consecration of spring.

At about the same time that The Rite of Spring (1913) saw the light of day, Stravinsky was preparing sketches for another ballet dedicated to ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev and his group Ballets Russes. The composition, however, which Stravinsky called Les noces (The Wedding) with the descriptive subtitle “choreographed scenes with music and singing”, required many years of genesis until its premiere on 13 June 1923. After the initial sketches and extract of the music score, completed in October 1917 and first choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska, Stravinsky devoted himself to preparing the libretto, based on several folk wedding texts, which he found in the collection of folk songs by Peter Kireyevsky from 1911. The majority of the songs used by Stravinsky is from the southern and western parts of Russia, which reflect the authenticity of traditional local practices. Namely, in the time of holidays and other vernacular festivities, local singers did not sing lyrics to specific melodies but composed short excerpts of lyrics and melodies arbitrarily and randomly. Thus, even in The Wedding, excerpts from wedding songs, exclamations, and jokes are randomly connected, making the libretto closely linked to vernacular speech, in which the deep and archaic layers of Russian folklore are revealed.

The Dying Swans Project by Edward Clug Stabat Mater by Edward Clug Petrushka by Edward Clug Peer Gynt by Edward Clug New Works by Edward Clug Cluster by Edward Clug