Le Sacre Du Printemps: Seven Productions from Nijinsky to Martha Graham

234 Pages·1988·8.508 MB·English

by  Shelley C. Berg

he premiere of Le Sacre du prin-
temps provoked greater storms
of controversy than had any
other ballet in history. The riot
that greeted the ballet's first per¬
formance is a legend im
nals of dance, music and theater,
the first production received only^
performances, the ballet has had
unprecedented afterlife.
Le Sacre du printemps: Seven Productions
from Nijinsky to Martha Graham is a com¬
parative study — the first of its kind — of
seven landmark productions of this ballet.
We experience the entire evolution of the
first Le Sacre: from the ballet's conception,
through the development of Nijinsky's
choreography and Roerich's costuming, to
opening night and the critical response that
followed. Also examined are productions
of Le Sacre by Leonide Massine, Maurice
Bejart, Paul Taylor, Richard Alston and
Martha Graham. Each work merits our atten¬
tion as a major revival, a breakthrough in
style or production, or an innovation on the
part of the choreographer. Making abun¬
dant use of first-hand accounts, including
interviews with dancers and choreographers
and critical response to the productions, au¬
thor Shelley C. Berg gives us a behind-the-
scenes look at each of these turning points.
In prose that conveys the excitement and
spirit of this ballet, Berg unfolds the con¬
voluted history of Le Sacre du printemps,
demonstrating that the spirit and inspiration
oileSacre's theme of life, death and rebirth
has had an impact far beyond the ballet's
tumultuous premiere. We are left with an
understanding of why choreograp[
critics, historians and audiences tcf
have been seduced by Stravinsky'!
lean score and the ballet's larger-tf
mythology.
125107
■ r

Le Sucre du printemps
Seven Productions from
Nijinsky to Martha Graham
Theater and Dramatic Studies, No. 48
Oscar G. Brockett, Series Editor
Leslie Waggener Professor of Fine Arts
and Professor of Drama
The University of Texas at Austin
Other Titles in This Series
No. 42 “Only a Paper Moon”:
The Theatre of Billy Rose Stephen Nelson
No. 43 Mikhail Chekhov as Actor,
Director, and Teacher Lendley C. Black
No. 44 Dancing in the Sun: Hollywood
Choreographers, 1915-1937 Naima Prevots
No. 45 Silence in Shakespeare:
Drama, Power, and Gender Harvey Rovine
No. 46 Historical Consciousness in Nineteenth-
Century Shakespearean Staging Nancy J. Doran Hazelton
No. 47 O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh:
Reconstructing the Premiere Gary Vena
No. 50 The Autobiography of
Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator of
Great Musical Spectacles Barbara M. Barker, ed.
Le Sacre du printemps
Seven Productions from
Nijinsky to Martha Graham
by
Shelley C. Berg
Le Sacre du printemps
Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Premiere
1913-1988
UMI Research
Press
Ann Arbor / London
Copyright © 1988
Shelley C. Berg
All rights reserved
Produced and distributed by
UMI Research Press
an imprint of
University Microfilms Inc.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Berg, Shelley, C., 1952-
Le sacre du printemps : seven productions from Nijinsky
to Martha Graham / by Shelley C. Berg.
p. cm.—(Theater and dramatic studies ; no. 48)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8357-1842-5 (alk. paper)
1. Rite of spring (Ballet) 2. Dance production—History.
I. Title. II. Series.
GV1790.R5&B47 1988
792.8'42—dcl9 87-29421
CIP
British Library CIP data is available.
f
To Lola R. Berg, 1917-1987
Although she never saw this book in print,
my mother shared its creation with me. That
mystical bond between mother and daughter—
as primal as any in nature—was never
stronger than when we talked, argued and
watched dance. She had a dancer's eye, if not
the feet. She knew my dancer's heart and
helped it grow into a woman's as well. We
went through life as true partners and formed
a bond that can never be broken.