I really enjoyed Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and very much appreciated the choreography as well. The dancers personify the sounds of the instruments in this piece, as they move along to the sounds of the composition. In addition to coordinating movements with particular beats, the choreographer grouped dancers to match with groups of instruments, as evidenced principally in Part I, for the duration of minute 6:00 for example. In this instance, the dancers act out the various instrumental groupings, as these play separate sections of the music (ex. one group will represent the piccolo melody, while the other will act on the cymbal solo).

The relationship of dancers to the music is significant as, additionally they contribute to the piece with the sound of stomps. The chaos versus structure of the music is also demonstrated, as the dancers all act independently and many instruments play in conjunction at different pitches in dissonance (ex. 21:20), followed by a 21:35 where the dancers all act in unison to a sole instrumental group.

The contortion, bent and twisted nature of some of the dance moves, gives an affect that really contrasts with Copland’s piece, that is characterized by more free-flowing representations. “The Rite of Spring”, which is supposed to represent pagan Russia ironically uses doll-faced dancers with very contorted and rhythmic style. One part of the dance somewhat resembles the “Twirling Dervishes” from Turkey, while others represent conflicts, and many parts of the piece are characterized by tension.