Sacres

Based on the iconic modern ballet The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps, Stravinsky/Nijinsky, 1913), which has become “an eternal and lively myth for all musicians and choreographers throughout the world”, this creative documentary suggests that western modern art, and particularly dancing, originates in the archaic rituals.

According to Stravinsky, the Rite was based on a pagan ritual from Slavic mythology: sacrificing a young girl would guarantee a favourable spring to the members of her community. Based on the ballet’s synopsis and the conviction that “there comes a time when the body, through dance […] welcomes a whole world of elapsed cultures”, the directors have built their film on the alternation of footage from five contemporary choreographers’ versions of the Rite, with visual archives from ethnographic cinema showcasing Asian, African or Oceanic rituals. Filmed on rehearsal or on stage, the Rites from Jean-Claude Gallotta, Sasha Waltz, Angelin Preljocaj, David Wampach and Oliver Dubois face distant images from Vertov, Rouch, Murnau, Spies and others, while the music and rythms reveal the continuity between distinct worlds.

(Myriam Bloedé)

Premiere in Monaco, first premiered on 29 May 1913 at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris by the Ballets Russes.

In 2009, the Ballets de Monte-Carlo celebrated the Ballets Russes’s original works and heritage in a festive spirit devoid of any fusty ideas. Nijinsky’s Rite of Spring illustrated the vibratory emotional technical quality which motivates each and every dancer in the corps de ballet, made up of as many “chosen people” as it is possible to imagine in a company of fifty dancers.

Source : Ballets Monte Carlo 

More information : http://www.balletsdemontecarlo.com/