The Rite of Spring Léon Vallas opined that Stravinsky had written music 30 years ahead of its time, suitable to be heard in 1940. Coincidentally, it was in that year that Walt Disney released "Fantasia", an animated feature film using music from "The Rite" and other classical compositions, conducted by Stokowski. The "Rite" segment of the film depicted the Earth's prehistory, with the creation of life, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs as the finale. Among those impressed by the film was Gunther Schuller, later a composer, conductor and jazz scholar. The "Rite of Spring" sequence, he says, overwhelmed him and determined his
The Rite of Spring its premiere, the ballet has been the subject of at least 150 productions, many of which have become classics and have been performed worldwide. Among the more radical interpretations is Glen Tetley's 1974 version, in which the Chosen One is a young male. More recently there have been solo dance versions devised by Molissa Fenley and Javier de Frutos, a punk rock interpretation from Michael Clark, and "Rites" (2008), by The Australian Ballet in conjunction with Bangarra Dance Theatre, which represents Aboriginal perceptions of the elements of earth, air, fire and water. On 18 February 1914 "The Rite" received its