The Rite of Spring

Katarzyna Kozyra

  • type of object: video
  • date: 1999
  • material/technique: 7-channel video instalation
  • dimensions: 13'56"
  • inventory No.: V-20

The artist was inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, The Rite of Spring,
the 1913 staging of which, to choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky, caused
one of the greater scandals in music history, and by Milicent Hodson’s
1987 reconstruction of the original choreography. Stravinsky’s ballet
was based on an ancient Slavic myth of the dance of the Chosen One,
who has to ‘dance herself to death’ in order to wake up nature and
summon spring. Kozyra decided to precisely reconstruct the dance using
stop-frame animation. Nijinsky’s choreography was difficult even for
experienced dancers, yet the artist hired elderly people, whose bodies
(with the men wearing fake vaginas and the women fake penises) were,
according to her conception, to become like puppets, the whole thing
creating the impression of bodily movement suspended in a vacuum.
The dancers’ poses and gestures were carefully prearranged (in prostrate
position) and precisely recreated, with stop-frame animation providing
an effect of motion. The process took over two years to complete and
the result is a work 14 minutes long, and looped so that the cycle of the
Chosen One’s dance and death is infinitely repeated. The screenings
are arranged in two circles, with the soloists playing the Chosen One
dancing on the three screens of the inner circle, and the Old Wise Men
surrounding the Chosen One on the four screens of the outer circle.
The Rite of Spring was a co-production between the Zachęta — National
Gallery of Art and The Renaissance Society in Chicago. Premiere (with a fully
animated Dance of the Chosen One) took place at the Zachęta in 2002.

Other works by artist in the Zachęta collection

  • Zdjęcie pracy Madonna from Regensburg
    Madonna from RegensburgKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy Olimpia
    OlimpiaKatarzyna Kozyra1996
  • Zdjęcie pracy Cheerleader
    CheerleaderKatarzyna Kozyra2006
  • Zdjęcie pracy A Quarter of an Hour
    A Quarter of an HourKatarzyna Kozyra2004
  • Zdjęcie pracy Summertale
    SummertaleKatarzyna Kozyra2008
  • Zdjęcie pracy Lords of the dance
    Lords of the danceKatarzyna Kozyra2002
  • Zdjęcie pracy The Bathhouse
    The BathhouseKatarzyna Kozyra1997
  • Zdjęcie pracy Punishment and Crime
    Punishment and CrimeKatarzyna Kozyra2002
  • Zdjęcie pracy Dance Lesson
    Dance LessonKatarzyna Kozyra2001
  • Zdjęcie pracy It's better to know nothing, from series Eight
    It's better to know nothing, from series EightKatarzyna Kozyra2000
  • Zdjęcie pracy Blood Ties
    Blood TiesKatarzyna Kozyra1995
  • Zdjęcie pracy Non so piu
    Non so piuKatarzyna Kozyra2004
  • Zdjęcie pracy The Castrate / Il Castrato
    The Castrate / Il CastratoKatarzyna Kozyra2006
  • Zdjęcie pracy The Castrate / Il Castrato
    The Castrate / Il CastratoKatarzyna Kozyra2006
  • Zdjęcie pracy Pyramid of Animals
    Pyramid of AnimalsKatarzyna Kozyra1993
  • Zdjęcie pracy Men's Bathhouse
    Men's BathhouseKatarzyna Kozyra1999
  • Zdjęcie pracy In Art Dreams Come True
    In Art Dreams Come TrueKatarzyna Kozyra2006
  • Zdjęcie pracy Faces
    FacesKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy
    Katarzyna Kozyra1991
  • Zdjęcie pracy
    Katarzyna Kozyra2011
  • Zdjęcie pracy Casting. Tel Aviv
    Casting. Tel AvivKatarzyna Kozyra2011
  • Zdjęcie pracy Beauty-Preview with Gloria Viagra
    Beauty-Preview with Gloria ViagraKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy Stairs from the series Boys
    Stairs from the series BoysKatarzyna Kozyra2001
  • Zdjęcie pracy Spears from the series Boys
    Spears from the series BoysKatarzyna Kozyra2001
  • Zdjęcie pracy Ragazzi from the series Boys
    Ragazzi from the series Boys Katarzyna Kozyra2001
  • Zdjęcie pracy Madonna from Pelago
    Madonna from PelagoKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy Teatro di cani. Lou Salome a Roma
    Teatro di cani. Lou Salome a RomaKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy Appearance as Lou Salome
    Appearance as Lou SalomeKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy The Nightmare
    The NightmareKatarzyna Kozyra2004
  • Zdjęcie pracy Facade Concert
    Facade ConcertKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy Diva: Reincarnation
    Diva: ReincarnationKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy Tribute to Gloria Viagra: Birthday party
    Tribute to Gloria Viagra: Birthday partyKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy The Winter's Tale
    The Winter's TaleKatarzyna Kozyra2005
  • Zdjęcie pracy The Midget Gallery
    The Midget GalleryKatarzyna Kozyra2006

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