The Rite Stuff - Lesson 3 - The Riot at the Rite

Introduction [15-20 min]

The audience’s reaction to the premier of The Rite of Spring is legendary. Watch an excerpt from the BBC movie Riot at the Rite [45:15 - 1:25:16 documents the entire ballet and the audience reaction; clicking through a few parts should be sufficient for the lesson; note if you are showing the video to children, be aware that there are some scenes, mostly outside this time range, which show aspects of the homoerotic relationship between Diaghilev and Nijinsky, however, there is a kiss backstage at the conclusion of the ballet at 1:23:32]. Now read from the 1913 article published in the New York Times, “Parisians Hiss New Ballet.” Then listen to an excerpt from Radiolab’s “Musical Language” [+/- 32:00 - 35:00] and then consider the following questions:

• Why do you think the audience responded in the way they did? [Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas of the San Francisco Symphony tells us that the audience would have been “expecting to see something bright, colorful, exotic, with lots of leaping, lots of diaphanous costumes that would give you occasional lovely glimpses of gorgeous anatomy. That's not what they got. They got a very dark piece with people mostly moving on the floor, even writhing on the floor. They were all wearing very dark costumes that looked like animal skins and they had very puffy sleeves and hats and very odd, strange movements that they made — very angular, funny movements. And, of course, there was a score, which was at that time being very courageously played, but which must have been right on the edges of what was comprehensible to the musicians and the public."]
• Compare your knowledge of The Rite of Spring to images of other ballets that preceded it, like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Les Sylphides. What differences do you notice?

Activity [15-20 min]

Discuss what a critic is. Pretend you are a music critic having just seen a performance of The Rite of Spring ballet for the first time today. What would you tell others about the ballet? Write your own short review of The Rite of Spring and then share your review with the group. You may want to touch on your reactions to the music, the choreography, the scenery, the costumes, the dancers, and the story-line. Be sure to come up with a catchy newspaper headline for your piece!

Results

We had another really successful lesson and the kiddos were able to understand, even just based on their own preconceptions of ballet, why the audience might have reacted in the way they did. And they did a really great job on their reviews! I am so proud of them.

I have transcribed their awesome articles from kid-ese below.


Brayan (age 8):



The music was very wise. It was a huge piece of art. It was lovely. The dancers were a little rough at the second piece. It seemed like everything was blooming. The piece of music seemed like it was floating. The music was strong. In part two [it was] a little freaky [and] at the end [it] was nice [and] low.

SHATTERING GLASS
[Brayan said he put the title at the end of the review because the end of The Rite of Spring sounds like shattering glass, and so he wanted the title at the end of the review. Notice also the stage curtain surrounding the title.]


Luana (age 9):

THEY THOUGHT IT WAS ONE THING BUT IT WAS ANOTHER

I loved The Rite of Spring. There was lots of people there. In the beginning of the music it was nice and calm, the music was loud. I really enjoyed the ballet but there were some people that did not like it. They thought the ballet would be like pretty people dancing with tutus and high jumps but it was something totally different. It was unique. People don't usually see that kind of stuff.

Well I enjoyed The Rite of Spring because if you really thought about it and saw all the little parts and interesting things that there were I think you might enjoy it too.

The setting was nice for the background of Act 1. [It] was tall, bumpy, dark mountains. There was Act 2 and Act 1. They were totally different from each other. Act 1 was bright and sunny, Act 2 was sad [and] dark. All the costumes sort of looked the same.

I hope you enjoy when you go see it.

Lucas (age 11):

HUMANS THAT WEREN'T THERE, LISTEN

The music started out friendly. But after a couple of minutes it was scary and was that way through most of the ballet. There was loud low pitches that made you want to lower the music.

I could see how the music went well with the story. I understood that at the end when the girl was dancing she was tired and wanted to give up.

The costumes didn't look normal at all. The boys had tall orange hats, and some of the actors had animal skins on their backs. Their dresses and robes were long and loose. Long enough to trap air inside when the girls twirled around.

The stage looked like they were in a forest with a mountain. The mountain had a little bit of snow at the bottom so that kind of gave me a clue that winter was just about over and the people were celebrating spring.

The dancers sure had interesting moves. They were excited and put lots of effort into their stomps. They jumped very high and looked like their faces were petrified!