The Rite of Spring

The most iconic and “on-the-nose” ballet on the list is composer Igor Stravinsky’s seminal 1913 work The Rite of Spring (known originally in French as Le Sacre du printemps). The concept of the ballet was based on an original outline by the Russian composer, and further developed by stage and costume designer Nicholas Roerich. It depicts various primitive rituals celebrating the arrival of spring.

A young girl chosen as a human sacrifice, where she must dance herself to death. When it was first performed for the 1913 Paris season, its avant-garde nature and choreography (by Vaslav Nijinsky) caused a sensation. It was embraced for its contemporary sensibilities, but also shunned by conservatives for being tasteless. Several audience members participated in angry riots condemning the ballet. Today, historians consider The Rite of Spring to be one of the most influential ballets ever written. It harnessed the art form into the modern age, and is often cited by scholars as one of the first ballets to feature “modernism in music.” It has been re-staged and performed by countless ballet companies around the world.

Appalachian Spring (Ballet for Martha)

In 1942, modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham commissioned Aaron Copland to write a ballet with an “American sound.” Copland then came up with a stunning suite and recorded it with a 13-member chamber orchestra. He initially named it Ballet for Martha. However, during the development of the story, peers told Copland that his music captured the beauty of spring on the Appalachian Mountains, located at the Northeastern tip of North America. Hence, he renamed the piece as Appalachian Spring.

The libretto of the ballet follows the lives of a young bride (played by Graham) and her young pioneer husband as they begin their life together on the American frontier. The Kennedy Center describes the ballet best: “Opposing forces dominate the dance—youthfulness versus maturity, and physical love opposed to spiritual devotion. The couple is in love and full of joy and hope. They express their optimism with sweeping arms and leaps and turns, as well as tender embraces.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Although not blatantly a “spring-themed” ballet, we feel that Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream captures the very energy that spring evokes. It is timeless and fresh, mischievous and spritely. First performed by the New York City Ballet on January 17, 1962, the ballet has since become an iconic piece of art. The two-act ballet was originally choreographed by George Balanchine, who co-founded the NYC Ballet and remained its artistic director for almost four decades. Adapted from the classic play by William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream it follows Queen Titania and King Oberon as they celebrate their control over the fairies in a lively dance. The ballet is also well-known for its large children’s corps de ballet.

The Four Seasons – Spring

In 1855, romantic Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi wrote the five-act opera I vespri sicillani, based on the successful rebellion of Sicilians against King Charles I of Anjou on Easter, 1282. Included in the opera was the third-act ballet called The Four Seasons, which captured the imagination of influential choreographer Jerome Robbins in the early 70s. “His libretto called for Janus, the God of New Year, to inaugurate a series of dances by each of the seasons in turn,” Robbins said in 1979 in an interview published by The New York City Ballet. “Verdi’s notes suggest such notions as ballerinas warming themselves in Winter by dancing, Spring bringing on warm breezes, indolent Summer ladies being surprised by an Autumnal faun, etc. The present ballet follows his general plan.”

When The Four Seasons first premiered, it was considered an artistic triumph. Washington Post writer Alan M. Krigsman even called the ballet: “The New York City Ballet’s newest opus”…and that the “Spring section” featured “amplitude and nuance” from dancers Kyra Nichols and Daniel Duell.