One Hundred Years of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring: Ritual, Rhythm and Revolution
Saddleback College Departments of Dance, Music and Theater Arts will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1913 premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s seminal work, The Rite of Spring.
Performances will be held on February 4th and 5th at 7:00pm in the McKinney Theatre on the campus of Saddleback College. General admission $10/students and seniors $7/students with ASB cards, under 16, and faculty free.
Saddleback College will showcase Stravinsky’s epic score with a performance of his Music for Four Hands version, played live by college music professors Norm Weston and Kirill Gliadkovsky, accompanied by a premiere of new contemporary choreography by fellow dance professor Deidre Cavazzi.
“We are thrilled to celebrate interdisciplinary artistic collaboration on our campus with this production, in the spirit of the original 1913 Ballets Russes piece, which brought the visions of artists like Igor Stravinsky, Vaslav Nijinsky, and Nicholas Roerich together”, says Cavazzi, “The students are so passionate about this project, and they’ve been really excited to learn more about the history of the piece in the process of creating new choreography. It’s also such a treat for the dancers to perform with live music.” The Stravinsky score is incredibly complex, with the 21 student dancers switching time signatures and concentrating to keep count in ever-changing tempos throughout the 35 minute score.
The production will be preceded by a short presentation about the hundred-year history of The Rite of Spring in the fields of both music and dance. Music professor Norm Weston is looking forward to this opportunity to share the infamous and influential story of this work.
He explains that “the Rite of Spring is perhaps the single most iconic piece of music of the 20th century. In this work, Stravinsky’s approaches to rhythm, harmony, melody and orchestration were all revolutionary. And yet, even though the work is radical on so many levels, and still sounds as if it could have been written yesterday, it managed, after an admittedly rocky premiere, to achieve universal acceptance fairly quickly. That, to me, is one of the most remarkable things about it.”
Student dancers pose with professors Kirill Gliadkovsky, Deidre Cavazzi,
and Norm Weston (center back).
Students in the Scenic Design and Stagecraft classes at Saddleback College, under the direction of professors Kent McFann and Karen McNulty, will contribute original painted canvases that will be projected as backdrops for the performances, and will also be on display in front of the theatre. A silent auction will take place each night for the paintings used in the production.
The extraordinary score, coupled with contemporary dance and a tale of ritual sacrifice and primitivism, has been inspiring artists in many fields for one hundred years; this spring Saddleback College will celebrate the legacy of this piece in its February production.
Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Pkwy in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit. Complimentary parking is available in Lot 12. Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the third left to “Theatre Circle,” turning right into Lot 12.
Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community. Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals. For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.
Jim Graves
