1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: I'm fair Dowdy and I'm to bling a Chruck reporting 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: and today we're gonna be doing a listener suggestion. So 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: dance teacher Emily wrote in to suggest that we cover 6 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: the ballet Ruth, and she said she couldn't guarantee us 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: an exhimation. She knows that's one of our favorite topics 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: as it long has been. But she also said that 9 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: the material really sold itself. They're great dancers, they're great composers, 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: there's an influential impresario. Plus there are a lot of 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: scandals and mental breakdowns and some pretty salacious performances to 12 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: the Afternoon of the Fawn. I think that's all I 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: have to say there. If you you know about dance. 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: If you don't, you can go look that one up 15 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: on your on your own if you want. She's not 16 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: going to get into the details. But what we really 17 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: got drawn into was the promise of a riot. Here 18 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: we you know how we love those. On May there 19 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: was a riot during the debut of the Right of Spring, 20 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: and this was different from the last artistic riot that 21 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: we podcasted on You may remember it the Astra Placed Riot, 22 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: and that one wasn't about the work, which was Macbeth, 23 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: that's your question. It was about the rivalry rather between 24 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: the two actors, about class conflict, and about Anglo American 25 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: intentions as well. Yeah, this one, though, is about the work. 26 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: It's the premier. It's about the dance and the music 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: and even the costumes get people in rage, all shockingly 28 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: and at the time disturbingly different and new to the audience. 29 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: That was what set them off in the first place. 30 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: But before we get to the people involved, we're gonna 31 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: be talking about a few of them, the composer, the choreographer, 32 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: the patron of the arts we mentioned, or before we 33 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: start talking about the work, just try to imagine a 34 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: piece of music and a dance that just was so 35 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: out side of the norm, so outside of what you 36 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: were used to that and infuriated you to the point 37 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: of getting out of your plush red seat and screaming 38 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: at the stage and and getting really really upset, yelling 39 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: and causing a ruckus. I mean, just just try to 40 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 1: get in that mindset before we get going. Yeah, and 41 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: once you have that going, we'll start off with a 42 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: little bit of background. So when The Right of Spring premiered, 43 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: all indications suggested that it would be a huge hit. 44 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: First and foremost, it was written by young superstar composer 45 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: Igor Stravinsky. I'm sure many of you have heard of him. 46 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: It was choreographed by the beloved dancer Voslav Nijinsky, and 47 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: of course it was staged by the hottest ballet company 48 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,799 Speaker 1: in Europe at the time, the Ballet Rouss a complete 49 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: smash since Sergei Diagle have started it five years before this. Yeah, 50 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: and because he's the man who founded the company, and 51 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: because he brought together the people who were involved in 52 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: creating the Right of Spring, it's the only fitting we 53 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: talked about him. I really think that all three of 54 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: those men we mentioned could be their own podcast subjects. 55 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,079 Speaker 1: They have very interesting lives. But kind of condensed it 56 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: a little because we're talking about the riot, not everybody involved. 57 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: But Diego Love was born in Russia in eighteen seventy 58 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: two to landed nobility, and he had, I guess, kind 59 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: of a sad start to life. His mother died only 60 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,679 Speaker 1: a few weeks after he was born. His father was 61 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: a colonel, but his stepmother really was an influential presence 62 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: in his life. She encouraged his artistic inclinations and he 63 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: had a really happy, luxurious upbringing. The family, for instance, 64 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: had an apartment in St. Petersburg, a country estate, and 65 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: a provincial twenty room mansion, and they were really friendly 66 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: and open. They hosted people, They had folks living with them. 67 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: I think I saw in one account the either the 68 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: estate or the twenty room mansion had an outdoor table, 69 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: a porch table that seated fifty. So you can imagine 70 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: the kind of upbringing this this man had. Yeah, and 71 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: his family was really generous. But unfortunately that generosity caught 72 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: up to them. They went bankrupt and diego Love had 73 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: to support them while studying law, but he also indulged 74 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: in his artistics. It had once in a while he 75 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: started hanging out with a group of sophisticates he met 76 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: through his cousin slash boyfriend, not something that you think 77 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: slash yeah. So this group made up some of the 78 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: core members of the eventual ballet rus So after graduation, 79 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: diego Lov decided he would become a composer instead of 80 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: a lawyer. He would follow his dreams through that artistic 81 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: inclination and at this time, one of the pre eminent 82 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: Russian composers was Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov, and classical music fans 83 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: will know him as one of the Five or the 84 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: Mighty Handful, a group of young composers who decades earlier 85 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: had tried to get Russian music back to its roots. 86 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,359 Speaker 1: They took inspiration from throwing things like Russian folklore and 87 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 1: fairy tales, and they scored the Imperial ballets and operas. Yeah, 88 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: so Diego Loov got this meeting with Rimsky Korsakov, who 89 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: at this point it's sort of the godfather of Russian music, 90 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: and he has his work completely dismissed by this this 91 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 1: old master, and he does stick up for himself a 92 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: little bit. I think he actually is kind of smart. 93 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: He I mean, and I mean that in a bad way. 94 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 1: He I think he tells him, you're gonna regret what 95 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: you said. It's going to be printed in your biography 96 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: someday and you'll be so embarrassed and by then it'll 97 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: be too late to take it back. So I mean 98 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: just imagining this young man saying this to the master. 99 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: But he did stop composing, so I guess he took 100 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: the lesson to heart, Diaglev decided that was not his 101 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: career track, probably for the best, because his true talent 102 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: lay in management. He decided he'd become a patron of 103 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: the arts, not an artist, though of course he had to. 104 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: He had to be clever about that because he was 105 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: not a wealthy man anymore. If you're gonna be a 106 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 1: patron of arts and not have your own money, you've 107 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: got to be resourceful. Yeah, So, after a few years 108 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,720 Speaker 1: of staging artistic exhibitions in Russia and a job at 109 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: the then bureaucratic Imperial Theater, he took his show on 110 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: the road. For one thing, he did this for a 111 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: couple of reasons. For one thing, he was patriotic. He 112 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: wanted Europe to know his country. But he also knew 113 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: that just as all things French were all the rage 114 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,160 Speaker 1: in Russia at the time, Parisians were also enchanted by 115 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: the idea of old Russia, its opulence, it's exoticism, and 116 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: so he thought that it would be an easy cell. Yeah, 117 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: they had a romantic idea of what Russia was or 118 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: what it is still. So in nineteen o nine, Diaglav 119 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: pulled the best dancers from Russia and formed the Ballet 120 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: Ruth and the company's early years really capitalized on that 121 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: perception of Russia as exotic and romantic. And if you 122 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: look up some pictures from the costumes, for instance, at 123 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: this point, you can you can tell that the flyers 124 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: they're very they're almost erotic in some cases. And um, 125 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: the epitome of that aesthetic, that romantic, exotic aesthetic was 126 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: the company's principal dancer, Boslo Nadjynski, and he eventually became 127 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: Diagla's lover. And Najynski was the son of dancers, so 128 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: he had grown up in this environment and he was 129 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: really famous for his leap, almost like he could fly. 130 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: So when he debuted in in Paris and in the 131 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: rest of Europe, it was unlike anything people had ever 132 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: seen before. And I mean the same goes for many 133 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: of the other dancers in the company, but Nijinsky in 134 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: particular really stood out. And the third member of our 135 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,119 Speaker 1: trio also came in near the beginning of this whole 136 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: story of the Ballet russ He was also young and 137 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: also obviously Russian, Igor Stravinsky. Now Stravinsky was the son 138 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: of a famous operatic bass and he had grown up 139 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: just behind the Imperial Theater, so kind of an auspicious 140 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: place to grow up if you're interested in music. I 141 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: guess he took piano and music theory, and his house 142 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: was filled with music and theater too. But still, when 143 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: it was time for school, he studied law and philosophy. 144 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: That seems to be a theme here, the study of law. 145 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: These would be lawyer. But while at St. Petersburg University 146 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: he showed some of his early works to someone that 147 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: we have heard of before, the father of a fellow student, 148 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: none other than Kikorsikov. So Rimsky Korsikov gave him a 149 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,679 Speaker 1: better reaction than he had given to Diagolov, and actually 150 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,559 Speaker 1: took him on as a private student. So his story 151 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: turned out a little better there for him, it definitely 152 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: will Stravinsky obviously displayed some more talent at composing, but 153 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: Rimsky Corskov also helped him get some gigs going too, 154 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: so he started having performances, started having his music performed, 155 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: and Diaglov came into the picture in nineteen o nine 156 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: when he attended one of these performances and heard Stravinsky's 157 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: music and decided he wanted to commission him right away 158 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: for the Balletrous summer season, so got some music for that, 159 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: and then for the nineteen ten season he commissioned The Firebird. 160 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: And I mean, of course, this is probably one of 161 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: the most famous ballets. It's it's absolutely one that's staged 162 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: by most companies, I think, pretty frequently. Right, Even my 163 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,680 Speaker 1: ballet company I was in in Northeast Alabama when I 164 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: was growing up, did a production of the Firebird every year. 165 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: Were you in the Firebird? No? I wasn't then at all. 166 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: I was in a Nutcracker though does that counting different composers? 167 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: Completely different? Ll at never mind moving on, But anyway, 168 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: this made Stravinsky blow up overnight, and then the next 169 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: year it was another hit for him and the ballet 170 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: Rous with Petrushka, and in this one, Nazynski dance the lead. 171 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: But all the while, while Stravinsky is working on Petrushka, 172 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: he's also working on something else, something that has a 173 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 1: very modern sound, as we're gonna learn, but something that's 174 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: ancient too, certainly has ancient roots. So we're gonna have 175 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: to go back again a little bit to to explain. 176 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: Stravinsky also wanted to make something uniquely Russian. He was 177 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,839 Speaker 1: also patriotic like Rinsky, Korsakov or Diaglev, and he really 178 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:44,080 Speaker 1: liked fairy tales and Russian legends especially, so he had 179 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: grown up summering in a small village called the Stulug, 180 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: and villagers would still come out and celebrate the harvest 181 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,359 Speaker 1: and the planting during during his youth, and they'd celebrate 182 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: with festivals and dances, and they would sing song with 183 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: their untrained voices and play homemade instruments and really just 184 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,959 Speaker 1: have a good time. And it produced a very unique 185 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: sound that sort of captivated Stravinsky. So he wrote The 186 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: Right of Spring to try to capture that celebratory chaos, 187 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: even though in the ballet's case, it's not just harvest festival. 188 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: It's not it's not an entirely happy occasion. It's a 189 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: pagan human sacrifice. Spoiler alert In case you you didn't 190 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: know what happened at the end of the Right of Spring, 191 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: we gotta mention it. The chosen One, who is a 192 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: young maiden, dances herself to death. So it's a disturbing 193 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: story of celebration. Yeah, And to achieve that haphazard distorted 194 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 1: sound of the celebration, and to imitate the untrained voices 195 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: and the homemade instruments. Stravinsky knew he'd have to manipulate 196 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: the traditional instruments of the orchestra, so he paired them 197 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: up in odd combos. He would have one group played 198 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,199 Speaker 1: triplets while the other one played quite druplets. And most memorably, 199 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 1: he moved some of the instruments so far outside of 200 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: their range they became unrecognizable. So those are just a 201 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: few things he did to achieve that really unique sound. 202 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: And here's what the Paris audience of the premiere first heard. 203 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: So that's a very unusual sound. And a composer who 204 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: was in attendance at the premiere, Camille San San, basically said, 205 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: what is that? What instrument is that? And his seat 206 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: mate told him it's the bassoon, And Saint San was 207 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: supposedly so scandalized by this information he reportedly said, if 208 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: that is a bassoon, I am a baboon and walked out. 209 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: So he did not like hearing the bassoon played in 210 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: this eerie and you usual register at all. Well, and 211 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: that wasn't even the only instrument that people had trouble with. 212 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: There were some other strange sounding instruments that chimed in 213 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: as well. There was an English horn and e flat clarinet, 214 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: a bass clarinet and actually a contemporary San Francisco Symphony 215 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: musician has described the sound as a quote jungle, just 216 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: to give you an idea of what it what the 217 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: impressions might have been like. So people were hissing, they 218 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: started to yell somewhere cheering. Yeah, a few folks liked it. 219 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: They wanted to keep hearing it. Then the first dance 220 00:12:31,440 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: tableau opened and the music made a kind of terrifying transition. Yea, yeah, 221 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: so that's scary stuff. And you've just heard the music, 222 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,199 Speaker 1: but we're going to talk about the dance to what 223 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: was going on on stage with this pounding, frightening music. 224 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: The dancers weren't gracefully pirouetting about. They were grouped in 225 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,680 Speaker 1: a circle and they were jumping up and down with 226 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: both feet together. And it looks painful. It looks very violent, 227 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: and Ajinsky dancer later recalled quote, with every leap, we 228 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: landed heavily enough to jar every organ in us and 229 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: it and it looks like that. It looks heavy and uncomfortable. 230 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: But because the dancers were also doing this move where 231 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 1: they rest their heads on their hands and switch hands 232 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: and pitch their heads back and forth. Some people started shouting, 233 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: get them a dentist. So people were not only upset 234 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: by what they were hearing, the strange bassoon noise and 235 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,719 Speaker 1: and all of that, but what they were seeing. And 236 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: a third issue was the costumes. The dancers weren't wearing 237 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,439 Speaker 1: these scanty, form fitting costumes that you know, some people 238 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: at the time we're going to the ballet to see that, 239 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: you know, they wanted to see dancers and and see 240 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: the classical, the pretty, you know, the really beautiful costume 241 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: exactly that the two too kind of get up and um, 242 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: these folks were wearing tunics, they were wearing long fake braids, 243 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: they had padded lace legs, and you can look up 244 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: these costumes as I mentioned, but the best way to 245 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: picture it is almost like buckskins. There. They don't look graceful, 246 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: they look very primitive. And people they hated it. They 247 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: did not like that aspect of it. Stravinsky panic at 248 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: this point. He starts to head backstage. Diaglov and for 249 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: his part, flashes the house lights at this point, trying 250 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: to calm people down. But the orchestra kept playing, and 251 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: diag Lov must have guessed that something like this would 252 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: go down. He he hadn't mentioned that fear to Stravinsky 253 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: or Najynski at all, but he had told the conductor, 254 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: Pierre Monte, to keep playing no matter what. So so so 255 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: the orchestra just keeps on playing the music, which must 256 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: have been difficult because there's some crazy rhythms in the 257 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: right of spring. I have to imagine it would be 258 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: tough to play if if you couldn't hear what you 259 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: were playing. But that wasn't the only problem. Yeah, I 260 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: mean what about the dancers. They couldn't hear either, and 261 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: it makes it pretty hard to dance if you can't 262 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: hear the beat of the music. So Najynski got on 263 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: a chair and leaned out to call off the numbers 264 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,640 Speaker 1: from basically chanting for them, and Stravinsky held his coat 265 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: tails to keep him from falling. He was leaned that 266 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: far out, and the police were of course called in. 267 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: And uh, there's a really good quote I think from 268 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: Harvard professor Thomas Kelly describing the effect of the music 269 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: on the audience. He said, the pagans on stage made 270 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: pagans of the audience, And I mean, we have to 271 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: wonder who were these people? What this is now a 272 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 1: classic piece of music. It's a um it's a ballet 273 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: that was certainly influential. Who were the people who just 274 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: couldn't stand it? And it was long assumed that they 275 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: were just kind of old fogies, you know, they wanted 276 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: to see, like we mentioned earlier, the classic two two 277 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: and and the pirouetting, but people didn't go to the 278 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: ballet roots for that kind of experience anyway. And recently, UM, 279 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: one of the latest biographies on Diaglov, has shaken up 280 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: that assumption that that these were the old fogies, said 281 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: that they were actually the avant garde, the people who 282 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: were at the head of trends. But they felt like 283 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: this piece of music, this dance, just eclipsed even then 284 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: they didn't want to get left behind so violently. They 285 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: were one up to an edginess they were. So of course, 286 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: the Right of Spring doesn't sound quite so shocking now, 287 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: and that's because a lot of later twentieth century music 288 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: was influenced by it. PBS actually hosts this great series 289 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: by the San Francisco Symphony called Keeping Score, and Sara 290 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: and I both watched it, and the program kolstro Vinsky's 291 00:16:55,240 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: score and artistic revolution, something that redefined twentieth century music 292 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: and one of the symphonies musicians even calls it rock 293 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: and roll. And I think why it doesn't sound so 294 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: shocking to us now is because it is very familiar. 295 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: You you'll recognize it in later classical music, but in 296 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: other music forms too. I mean, even if you don't 297 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: listen to it and think that's rock and roll, I mean, 298 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: it clearly has an effect on on where music went 299 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: for the rest of the century. And it certainly defines 300 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: Stravinsky's work. I mean, after this the Firebird might have 301 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:31,360 Speaker 1: made him blow up overnight, but this defined his career. 302 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:33,959 Speaker 1: And he did, of course go on to enjoy a 303 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: very long career, probably making this even more impressive that 304 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: he had something like this so early on. He went 305 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 1: on composing in the fifties and sixties, he started composing 306 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: twelve tone music, and he lived until the nineteen seventies. 307 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: Actually the recordings we heard were conducted by Stravinsky. Yeah, 308 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: And this work didn't just influence music, It also influenced 309 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: choreography as well. The choreography of Nijynski here was really influential. 310 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: I mean, if you look at it, it it looks like 311 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: modern dance. That's what I thought when I first read 312 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: about this. That well as well, when you see it, 313 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: I mean, the costumes, the movements, everything kind of reminds 314 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: you of that. But because The Right of Spring was 315 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: only performed eight times, and because Nijynski had a mental 316 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: breakdown at age twenty nine and ended up spending the 317 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: rest of his life in and out of asylums, the 318 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: choreography was until recently presumed lost. Yeah. In nineteen though, 319 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: we have this really interesting sort of forensic dance story. 320 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: The Jeoffrey Ballet restored the original choreography, and they brought 321 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: in a dance historian and an art historian, and those 322 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: two drew from reviews and from dancers quotes, and from 323 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 1: drawings and photos, and even from Stravinsky's notes on the 324 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: stage direction, which had sort of general instructions like there 325 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: are this many groupings on the stage, but not exactly 326 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 1: what they were doing to to get that information. They 327 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: finally found this score with choreographic notes, and it was 328 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 1: disc ever in nineteen eighty two. And to me, the 329 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: idea of reconstructing a dance is so it's almost impossible 330 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: for me to to comprehend. Yeah, it's one of those 331 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 1: instances where history and art meet so clearly. I think 332 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,479 Speaker 1: it's it's really fascinating. But when watching the restored ballet, 333 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: you also get a peek at what the costumes would 334 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: have looked like in action. They were designed by Nicholas Rerick, 335 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: and they look primitive but also really modern at the 336 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: same time. And the fact that people would go to 337 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: such trouble to restore a ballet really just speak to 338 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:34,880 Speaker 1: the effect and the importance of the ballet roosts on dance. Yeah, 339 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 1: after Diagolev's death in ninety nine, the Ballet Routs disbanded, 340 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 1: I think it almost immediately, but his employees branched out 341 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: across the world to start some of the pre eminent 342 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: companies of today, the American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, 343 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: San Francisco Ballet. They're all direct descendants from the Ballet Routs, 344 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: as our companies everywhere. So listener, Emily, who we mentioned 345 00:19:58,040 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: at the beginning of this podcast so that there'd be 346 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,680 Speaker 1: no exhamation in the story, but there actually is one 347 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: of sorts. In February of this year, the BBC reported 348 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: that some footage of the Ballet rous the only known 349 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: footage that is had been discovered mislabeled in an online 350 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: archive in Diagolov. I mean, the reason there was no 351 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: footage before is because he had prohibited filming of the 352 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: ballet since he didn't think that it could do his 353 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 1: movements justice. So it's an artistic exclamation. There's no body involved, 354 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: but some dance, ye know, close enough. I'm I was 355 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: pleased by by discovering this and getting to watch it. 356 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: It's rehearsal, so it's it's not it's not the Right 357 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: of Spring. It it's it is the nice costumes and 358 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: it looks very proper, but still it's the ballet roufs, 359 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: and it's it's all we got. And I just want 360 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: to mention. Even if you haven't ever seen this ballet, 361 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: or you don't really even go to ballet or listen 362 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: to classical music, you probably are familiar with the Right 363 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:01,680 Speaker 1: of Spring because it is maybe most famously associated with 364 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: Walt Disney's Fantasia. There's of course a long extended sequence 365 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 1: of the Ride of Spring with the dinosaurs, the you know, 366 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,120 Speaker 1: it's it's kind of a sad part of Fantasia for sure. 367 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever seen Fantasia. Oh no, 368 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,360 Speaker 1: share looks Sarah looks so shocked. Right now, I'm sure 369 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: I have like a VHS of it from where if 370 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: you if you still have a VCR you can for 371 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: you could look up you could look up this part online. 372 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's not it's not the part that 373 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,200 Speaker 1: you normally watch with Fantasia, like the dancing Hippo or 374 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: Mickey and the Broom, but it's still a pretty pretty 375 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: memorable scene in Fantasia. All right, Well, I'm going to 376 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: head to the video store apparently and um pick up 377 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: a copy of Fantasia. If anyone has anything else to 378 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 1: add to this podcast, any stories that we missed. Obviously, 379 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 1: Sarah said, we could have done an individual podcast on 380 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: any of these characters, so I'm sure there's lots of 381 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,360 Speaker 1: details of their lives that we haven't covered yet. Maybe 382 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: we will in the future. Or if you have any 383 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: great performances stories that you want to share with us, 384 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: because I don't know, I've been to some pretty good ones, 385 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 1: have been to some pretty good ballets and some you know, 386 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: there's some really interesting interpretations and stuff happens that at 387 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: theater and ballets. For sure, it really does so give 388 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: us a give us an email. It's about to say 389 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: give us a call, but you can't call us. Just 390 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: send us an email at history podcast, how stuff Works 391 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: dot com or you can look us up on Twitter 392 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: at Miston History or on Facebook. Yeah, and I have 393 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: one last cool fact for you. It's kind of a 394 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: fun fact. That's why we didn't included in the body 395 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: of the podcast. But the final four notes of the 396 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,399 Speaker 1: base part in the sacrifice means at the very end 397 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: of the right of spring coincidentally spell D E A D. 398 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: We're gonna leave you on that spooky musical note. It's 399 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,400 Speaker 1: the coincidence Trumancy was Russian. He wasn't trying to work 400 00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: English codes into the composition. But or was he? Perhaps 401 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: we'll never know now. So I'm all on that for 402 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: a little bit. And uh, check out the blogs while 403 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: you're at it. We're at www dot how stuff Works 404 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: dot com. Be sure to check out our new video podcast, 405 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as 406 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. 407 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 1: The How Stuff Works iPhone app has a rise. Download 408 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: it today on iTunes.