Getting ready for my Humanities Class.
Looking for a bit more information about the first performance of Stravinksy's Rite of Spring, which I knew was performed in 1913 and NOT to an appreciative or receptive audience (supposedly the Ballet-goers rioted and trashed the theater), I found this bit from NPR.
Fascinating stuff.
And from what I understand, the audiences of Paris in 1913 weren't ready to watch a young girl dance herself to death in a sacrificial dance to the pagan gods who might grant a good growing season. And they weren't ready for the "jagged rhythms, crunching discord, and the strange jerking of the dancers on stage." After Surviving the Great War--WWI-- however, such a concept wasn't quite as appalling as the atrocities that had been seen in war...and so the revolutionary ballet made its mark as a new style, a creative break from tradition, and threw open the door for innovations in 20th century music. Thanks, Igor.
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