The Rite of Spring riot, 1913

How many times have you heard someone say “it was a riot!” when expressing approval of a dramatic or musical performance? Usually they don’t mean it literally, but that was just about a fair description of the first night of Stravinsky’s ballet “The Rite of Spring” when it premiered in Paris on 29^th May 1913.

The Rite of Spring riot

The Rite of Spring was the third ballet that the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) wrote for his fellow Russian, the impresario Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929). His previous ballets, “The Firebird” (1910) and “Petrushka” (1911) had both been great successes for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes during their Paris seasons, so there was every reason to expect that The Rite of Spring would be received equally warmly.

However, this turned out to be a huge overestimate of the reaction of the audience at the Théâtre de Champs Elysées. The shouting and screaming started moments after the curtain rose and the music started to play. The ballet had been choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, who was reduced to shouting out numbers from the wings, standing on a chair, to tell the dancers what to do because they could not hear the music above the noise from the auditorium.

Not all members of the audience were antagonistic to the performance, and that was part of the trouble. Fights broke out between the “pros” and the “antis” and the police had to be called to separate people who were throwing punches at each other.

Why the riot?

So why did the ballet excite such violent reactions? It was a combination of Stravinsky’s music and Nijinsky’s choreography that that was too much for a section of the Paris audience. The theme of “The Rite”, subtitled “Pictures of Pagan Russia”, was an ancient fertility rite in which a virgin is sacrificed to placate the forces of nature and ensure the return  of spring after a long winter. The music is earthy and sensual, and Nijinsky did everything he could to portray earthiness and sensuality in the movements of the dancers.

The whole thing was highly original, but also shocking for people who were not expecting anything along those lines. If you think that spring is all about cherry blossom and bunny rabbits bouncing through green meadows, then images of orgiastic rites and virgins being sacrificed are quite likely to be upsetting!

The reactions of the people who created the performance were quite revealing. Stravinsky was pleased with how the music was played, although puzzled by what Nijinksky was doing in the wings. He described his reaction to the night as “excited, angry, disgusted and happy”. Diaghilev commented that it was “Exactly what I wanted”, which made Stravinsky wonder if Diaghilev had not foreseen such a reaction from the very beginning of the project.

In all events, The Rite of Spring, which is more often performed these days as an orchestral work than as a ballet, has become a standard “classic” that is highly acclaimed all over the world. It is still a disturbing and no-holds-barred piece of music that hits one in the solar plexus, but audiences no longer feel the urge to pick fights with each other when they hear it!

© John Welford