Ballet Preljocaj Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)

"Incredible virtuosity...right down to the magic of the last moment once silence falls again."--La Marseillaise

Ballet Preljocaj, a leading French contemporary company, makes its local debut with a program that highlights the choreographic intelligence of artistic director Angelin Preljocaj. Angelin Preljocaj, artistic director of Ballet Preljocaj, regularly juxtaposes reinvigorated classics with original works.

In Helikopter, Preljocaj's skilled company lifts off from Helikopter Quartet, a majestic score by vanguard composer Karlheinz Stockhausen that pairs the strings of the Arditti Quartet with the roar of four whirring helicopter blades.

Preljocaj, who previously created the acclaimed suite Hommage to the Ballets Russes, now revitalizes Le Sacre du Printemps, that famed ensemble's daring collaboration with Igor Stravinsky, which sparked a riot with its Paris premiere.
Ballet Preljocaj's appropriately edgy interpretation is true to the primal impulses Stravinsky's forceful score summons. As Preljocaj expresses it, "The music unceasingly carries along with it a slowly rising force of desire...an impulse that is, when all is said and done, biological." He continues, "the Rite of Spring reminds us that as long as men and women continue in their spiritual, cultural, or intellectual quest, they will inevitably stumble against this weakness."
Sponsor, Fellow, and Donor Circles members are entitled to two free tickets to either Ballet Prejlocaj or Alladeen as a benefit of their membership (subject to availability).