Sacre!

On the eve of the First World War, a masterpiece was created that would revolutionise dance. With his composition Le Sacre du printemps, Igor Stravinsky provoked one of the biggest scandals in the history of music and dance in Paris in 1913. Later, the scandal turned into a triumph for the legendary Ballets russes, paving the way for ballet into the modern age.

Awakening, exuberance and change characterised the beginning of the 20th century inspiring the driving forces and pioneers of these dizzying changes. Three composers of this period embody this revolution in music and its impact on ballet as an art form in search of renewal: Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky. The links between the three were sometimes more, sometimes less intense, but their individual compositional development is almost inconceivable without the influence of the others. ‘The musicians of my generation and I myself owe the most to Debussy!’, declared Stravinsky.

Our ballet evening brings together three groundbreaking works by these musicians and bundles them into a powerfully intense dance about creatures, people and gods. In his work, the young choreographer Louis Stiens explores the contemplation of nature reflected in the works of Ravel and Debussy and our changed view of nature. George Céspedes from Cuba, who is working with a European ballet company for the first time in Graz, creates a wild dance about the constant change in human civilisation.

Age recommendation: 14+