Explore the music, choreography, and historical and cultural context of the three famed ballets Igor Stravinsky composed between 1910 and 1913 for the Ballets Russes. These three works—“The Firebird,” “Petrushka” and “The Rite of Spring”—used ancient Russian folklore and mythology to create a revolutionary modernist aesthetic. Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, founded in Paris in 1909, is the most influential and significant ballet company of the 20th century. His principal choreographers—Fokine, Nijinsky and Massine—completely redefined the style and aesthetics of ballet. Diaghilev hired some of the most important artists of the day—including Kandinsky, Picasso and Matisse—to design the sets and costumes. He commissioned scores by Debussy, Prokofiev, Ravel, Satie and, perhaps most significantly, Igor Stravinsky. We explore the musical language that Stravinsky created to accompany the new choreographic style of Fokine and Nijinsky, watch reconstructions of the original ballets, and discuss the historical and cultural context that gave birth to modernism in the first decades of the 20th century.

Wednesdays | 4 weeks, April 29 - May 20 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
In person and simulcast