Performed by Mariinsky ballet group of Saint Petersburg in Théâtre des Champs Élysées de Paris in 2013 and in its 100th birth year and also in honour of the first place where this masterpiece was performed.
It also -and particularly- has the ballet choreography of Nijinsky who has created it in direct collaboration with Stravinsky in 1913.
As much as controversial Stravinsky was at that time, he was already established as a recognized composer. The major part of the controversy in this piece was the choreography of Nijinsky which was defying all norms of Russian ballet. Nijinsky himself -as a dancer- was a master of classic Russian dance and kown for his jumps.
Instead of defying the earth gravity, which classic Russian ballet is proud of, it was focused on the gravity of the earth and instead of searching the divinity up in the sky, it was bowing to its force deep inside the earth. This choreography could only be performed 9 times in 1913.
The story is based on a Pagan-Russian myth in which a virgin is sacrificed welcoming the spring. To me the first part is mostly visual stimulus. The real climax starts -and stays there- when the chosen one is selected. She stands still watching the inevitability of her destiny.. until her dance to death. Simply breathtaking.
I read somewhere before (I couldn’t find it now) that Stravinsky himself later-on and in his old age expressed regrets for ever creating this piece.. as ‘blasphemy’.