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Summary
Summary
The Russian artists Igor Stravinsky and Vaslav Nijinsky were popular in their time: Stravinsky for music, Nijinsky for dance. When their radically new ballet, The Rite of Spring , was first performed in Paris on May 29, 1913, the reaction was so polarized, there were fistfights and riots! Brilliant or disastrous, the performance marked the birth of modern music and dance. Stringer's rhythmic text and gloriously inventive, color-rich paintings capture the wild and imaginative collaboration of composer and choreographer. The fascinating author note includes photos of the dynamic duo and The Rite of Spring dancers.
Author Notes
Lauren Stringer discovered the connection between Stravinsky and Nijinsky at a performance of The Rite of Spring. She is the award-winning author-illustrator of Winter Is the Warmest Season , and the illustrator of many other picture books. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit her website at www.laurenstringer.com .
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Composed with much alliterative, musical language, and onomatopoeia, this narrative flows beautifully, telling the story of the friendship and collaboration between composer Igor Stravinsky and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Focusing on the changes to their work and personal styles that resulted from their meeting to the culmination of their efforts, the ballet The Rite of Spring, the story conveys their composition process in a lively, upbeat fashion, with a percussive vocabulary. This book would be the perfect accompaniment in music lessons exploring the 100th anniversary of the famous work, and may inspire young musicians to create their own and definitely different work. Children may be surprised to learn about the commotion the composition caused, and the riotous ballet is sure to catch their attention. Vibrantly colored illustrations, inspired by Matisse and Picasso, of the musical notes, instruments, and dancers depicted, enhance the tone of the story and complement the text well. A detailed note from the author, complete with photographs, provides interesting background information about Stravinsky, Nijinsky, and The Rite of Spring.-Alison Donnelly, Collinsville Memorial Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Stringer homes in on the joy of collaboration in this celebration of composer Stravinsky and dancer Nijinsky's The Rite of Spring. Acrylic paintings swoop and curl with the fluidity of music and dance, echoed in the stylistic leaps of Stringer's prose: "Then Stravinsky met Nijinsky.... His piano pirouetted a puppet, his tuba leaped a loping bear, and his trumpet tah-tahed a twirling ballerina." The repetition and disruption of shapes creates a kind of visual syncopation, and Stringer pulls in multiple references to cubism; after the ballet is ready to perform, the pair leads a procession of dancers and musicians to the theater, literally shaking up Paris: "The crowed poured into the streets when the curtain went down... wild with the night that brought something brand-new!" Stringer trusts readers with a challenging and exciting account of the transformative power of visionary, risk-taking art. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
For a Horn Book issue with the theme "Different Drummers," a book about the riotous 1913 premiere of The Rite of Spring fits right in. Although Stringer overplays the degree of collaboration (Diaghilev, unmentioned here, chose Nijinsky to choreograph the piece well after Stravinsky had begun composing it), there is no doubt that the two men created something beautifully, brutally new, its "primitive" rhythms and movement almost as shocking and divisive today as they were to the first audience at the Thetre des Champs-elysees. Stringer's text has brio (perhaps a tad too much: "[Stravinsky's] trumpet tah-tahed a twirling ballerina"), and her acrylic illustrations dance right along in a sweep of movement and color that owes as much to Matisse as to its own lively spirit. Notes about the ballet, Stringer's visual inspirations, and a list of sources are appended. roger sutton (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A composer and a choreographer collaborate on a 20th-century masterpiece and cause a riot. In 1913 Paris, two Russians, Igor Stravinsky the composer and Vaslav Nijinsky the dancer/choreographer, took the western European art world by storm when the Ballet Russes premiered The Rite of Spring. Each returned to his Russian roots for both music and movement, leaving far behind the melodic strains and gorgeous balletic movements of Swan Lake. The new sounds, more harsh and dissonant, and the new steps, more earthy and folkloric, left the audience both wildly cheering and jeering. Stringer winningly plays with the symmetry of the two names in her rhythmic text and dynamic page design. The vibrantly saturated colors of her paintings pulse with energy. Musical notes, figures rehearsing and boisterous crowds at the premiere fill the pages. Humorous details abound, notably an appealing dog and cat who watch the artistes create. Stringer also incorporates moments from Stravinsky's earlier ballet Petrouchka, which featured Nijinsky as the tragic puppet, as well as a full measure of onomatopoeia and visual references to contemporary painters. The music is familiar not only to concert goers, but also to fans of the fiery volcanoes and fearsome dinosaurs in Fantasia. Said Nijinsky to Stravinsky: "What an uproar and what a delight!" Music and dance made entertaining and joyous. (author's note, sources) (Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* One of the problems with musician biographies for younger kids is that they are usually not familiar with the artists or their sounds. Words and art have to work together to give a sense of the music and be invigorating enough that readers will want to seek it out themselves. That's where this book excels. The title and the bright cover will initially grab kids: Stravinsky at the piano; Nijinsky posing; both framed by a rainbow of musicians, dancers, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and more. Inside, the text has a beat all its own as it first introduces the two men and how they worked alone, while noting that they both dreamed of something different. Their collaboration brought the world The Rite of Spring (They took Russian folk dances and Russian songs / they squared them and flattened them, twisted and cubed them / turning them into something different and new), which opened to a riot in Paris during its premier. The acrylic artwork captures the innovation, the noise, and the excitement in swirling, whirling images crowded with color and movement. Jumbled faces and bodies, reminiscent of those found in Toulouse Lautrec's posters, add to the mix. This one will make kids want to sit down and listen to the music for themselves.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist
