Joffrey Ballet in a 2013 reconstruction of Nijinsky’s The Rite of Spring

In our February issue’s History: Lesson Plan, we learn about Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian ballet dancer and controversial choreographer.

Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (“The Rite of Spring”) (1913) used stomping and full-body convulsions to depict a virgin sacrifice based on prehistoric Slavic rituals—all in contrast to Igor Stravinsky’s dissonant, constantly shifting score. The audience rioted in response.

In 2013, the Joffrey Ballet performed a reconstruction of The Rite of Spring:

The Joffrey Ballet | “The Rite of Spring” from The Music Center on Vimeo.

To learn more about this amazing artist, subscribe to Dance Teacher.

Photo by Roger Mastroianni, courtesy of the Joffrey Ballet