A Work in Progress: Images of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring

Ever since my first viewing of Disney's original "Fantasia", I remember watching the Rite of Spring segment and coming away with a wealth of mixed emotions. Unlike the other pieces in the movie, whose connection between musical sound and animated imagery seemed so obvious and tailor-made--"The Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Night on Bald Mountain", even the supposedly abstract "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"--I remember watching Rite of Spring and thinking, "This is an actual piece? What does this music have to do with dinosaurs?" And most pressingly..."How and why would anyone listen to this piece without the visual to along with it?"

In my Collaborative Projects in the Performing Arts class, I am hoping to be able to explore this connection between classical music and animation/visual imagery. This is the first attempt at trying to match up a classical work with relevant images--obviously, a work in progress. :)

I am hoping to try this project with other pieces in the future, for possible use in my own curriculum at my high school where I currently teach. These pieces range from Debussy's "La Mer" to Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra", to Beethoven's symphonies, to name a few areas of interest. But for now, The Rite seemed like such an obvious place to start.

Enjoy! (and remember, this is just a start, there is so much more to come...this is a WORK IN PROGRESS...)

Entracte

And so the journey begins! I look forward to a great semester with my fellow arts collaborators....