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In 1912, Nijinsky, with the Ballet Russe, performed The Afternoon of a
Faun (Prélude à L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune) and The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du
Printemps) set to the music of Debussy and Stravinsky. The programme,
which premiered in Paris, caused somewhat of a stir in the Parisian
audience. Explicit scenes of animal sexuality and maiden sacrifices were a
far cry from the clean romances of Giselle and Swan Lake, which featured
dancers in white tutus and tights. Yet, eighty years on in the 'liberated'
nineties, one must ask whether audiences are better prepared for the
multitude of phalluses (or should this be 'phalli') and suggestions of
masturbation presented by Chouinard's dance company from Canada, Compagnie
Marie Chouinard.
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This new interpretation of Nijinsky's notorious The Afternoon of a Faun
and The Rite of Spring premiered in Brisbane, Australia quite
appropriately on the first day of spring, 1 September. Chouinard's
choreography was based on the few photographic stills of Nijinsky's work,
taken by Adolphe Meyer. Nijinsky's roles were played by Chouinard herself
-- the third woman bold enough to reinterpret Nijinsky's work. Chouinard
chose to perform The Afternoon of a Faun as a solo, with the seven
nymphs represented by seven disembodied beams of light. The faun was
reworked, adopting Nijinsky's jarring two dimensional Egyptian-like human
figure which mimics the movement of the faun. The dance's climax was
reached when one of the faun's horns became the faun's phallus, perhaps in
reference to unicorn myths. The Rite of Spring began at the dawn of time,
progressing to a series of solos inspired by the various moods of
Stravinsky's dynamic music. The paradox of this piece lay in the
sensuality of ritualised sacrifice which was poseded against the
androgynous nature of the dancers. Dancers, male and female, were
undifferentiated in dress and movement, yet danced amidst an intense
display of sexuality.
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However, perhaps more interesting was the audience's reaction to the
presentation of these pieces. Indeed, the audience should not in this case,
if ever, be characterised as a mass. There seemed to be a clear
distinction between those who were already aware of the controversial
nature of Nijinsky's choreography and its potential R-rating and those who
were ignorant of the history of these pieces -- these were the audience
members who brought their children along, much to the horror of the rest of
the audience. Sitting near me were two young females who were perhaps the
most vocal of the audience in their reaction to The Afternoon of a Faun
and The Rite of Spring. Giggles were heard as Chouinard transformed one of
her faun's horns into a phallus. However, giggles turned into splutters
when the curtains opened for The Rite of Spring to reveal a bevy of erect
phalluses emerging from the stage floor. Some level of meaning was clearly
not lost. However, I suspect that even the informed section of the
audiences raised a collective eyebrow at this entirely unsubtle display.
Disgust did not seem to be the general reaction of the audience --
surprise appears to be a more accurate description. Even the audience
members who had prior knowledge of these pieces were still seemingly not
quite prepared for the explicit nature of some of the choreography. It
would be interesting to compare this reaction with the audiences of Paris
early this century. Admittedly, this performance did not attain news
status as the Paris version did, however whether this was because the
modern audience were better prepared even with prior knowledge is another
matter.
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Details
The Afternoon of a Faun and The Rite of Spring, dances by Nijinsky, music by Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky.
Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane, 1 to 3 Sep. 1998.
Choreography: Marie Chouinard.
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Citation reference for this article
MLA style:
Felicity Meakins. "Explicit Rites: 'The Afternoon of a Faun' and 'The Rite of Spring'." M/C Reviews 30 Sep. 1998.
[your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/events/faun.html>.
Chicago style:
Felicity Meakins, "Explicit Rites: 'The Afternoon of a Faun' and 'The Rite of Spring'," M/C Reviews 30 Sep. 1998,
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/events/faun.html> ([your date of access]).
APA style:
Felicity Meakins. (1998) Explicit rites: 'The afternoon of a faun' and 'The rite of spring'. M/C Reviews 30 Sep. 1998.
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/events/faun.html> ([your date of access]).
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