The Virginia Arts Festival Announces The Rite of Spring: 100th Anniversary Performance, 5/29

The Virginia Arts Festival will make-and remake-history on May 29. That's when the Festival will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the world premiere of The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky's groundbreaking work that changed the worlds of music and dance forever.

The original premiere, on May 29, 1913, took place in Paris. For months before the fateful night, Stravinsky worked side by side with choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky to create a bold new work, with every pulsing beat of the music drawing the dancers deeper into a mysterious story of ritual and sacrifice, in steps and movements that classical audiences had never seen before. Traditionalists were aghast; but many among that first audience, thrilled by what they saw, knew that they were in the presence of astonishing genius. This was revolution, and Stravinsky, leading the forces for change, won the day.

Now, 100 years to the day after that headline-making premiere, the Virginia Arts Festival presents the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Richmond Ballet in The Rite of Spring: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate the genius of an artist who has left an indelible mark on music, and through music, on the world.

The Richmond Ballet revives the choreography created by Salvatore Aiello. In his vision of the historic ballet, Aiello invented a primitive society to explore the myth of earth and life, imagining a chosen group of women pampered, protected and prepared for the ultimate offering to the gods. The fluid, undulating movement of the dancers builds with the music to the final shattering scene.

Virginia Symphony Music Director JoAnn Falletta conducts the orchestra in Stravinsky's masterwork, which in its day redefined the sound of an orchestra. Stravinsky, calling on ancient Russian pagan traditions, sought to recreate the sound of keening voices and stamping feet.

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