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STRAVINSKY Would Post an Instagram Story If He Saw - Firebird and Rite of Spring

2024.02.22
STRAVINSKY Would Post an Instagram Story If He Saw - Firebird and Rite of Spring

©Susanne Reichardt

 

By WEI Wan-jung, Executive Director of OISTAT

When it comes to STRAVINSKY, most people think of Rite of Spring. It is said that at the 1913 premiere, the audience was first amazed, then enraged, protesting quite raucously. The piece was viewed as too weird with its dissonant music and odd form of ballet. The audience was genuinely offended.

 

Surprisingly, a different piece, The Firebird (his first ballet), had received rave reviews just three years before. It shot him to fame at the humble age of 28, so the pushback on Rite of Spring was quite unexpected. Thus, in a very short time, he released two pieces of work that jolted the art realm. Had Instagram been around at that time, I'm sure critics would have posted on Stories, “Oh, really. If it's not a hit with this guy, it's a flop” (accompanied by a selfie with a subtle expression).

 

Hang on. Is that right?

 

Today, those two pieces are highly distinctive, so it's no wonder choreographer Iván PÉREZ wanted to put them together (I'm guessing he was thinking, "One just isn't enough!"). In The Firebird, the male protagonist (Prince Ivan) catches a firebird. He lets her go in exchange for a feather that he may use to call for her help when in need. The plot in Rite of Spring is more direct in the aspect of sacrifice. The people have to select a young girl to be sacrificed, and the chosen one ends up dancing herself to death.

 

Both pieces hold to a male-centric perspective as the captured are alluring others (a female bird and a human girl). The bird fares much better than the girl as it is given a choice to obtain its freedom by sacrificing a feather, while the girl has no choice and ends up dying.

 

PÉREZ has given Firebird and Rite of Spring an interesting twist: the object of sacrifice is male. Though I already knew that, when I watched the video, I felt like I was watching Squid Game because I had no idea who the victim would be. It seems that everyone has a chance – really edge-of-your-seat stuff. I also thought of Squid Game because as soon as the firebird appears, it plays the game "Red Light, Green Light" (in Mandarin!).Then, the dancers play tag and fight. With games, PÉREZ explores the concepts of setting and breaking rules. Traditionally, the sacrifice is stripped naked, but in this piece, the opposite happens – the sacrifice is covered with layer after layer of clothing. The floor is covered with garments in a bright, colorful array comparable to that of Jolin TSAI's latest music video. But such a visual display doesn't mean the dance is sweet and pleasant. In fact, it is a perfect expression of wild unconstraint. Maintaining the spirit of the original pieces while giving them a new interpretation is what stands out in Firebird and Rite of Spring. 2024 falls more than a century after the debuts of The Firebird and Rite of Spring. I think that if STRAVINSKY, who loved to push the boundaries, could see how these two pieces have been brought together, he'd probably post his own Instagram story with something like, "I would never have thought of doing that, but it's pretty good."

 

 

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