The Rite of Spring year while Stravinsky was occupied with his second major commission for Diaghilev, the ballet "Petrushka". In July 1911 Stravinsky visited Talashkino, near Smolensk, where Roerich was staying with the Princess Maria Tenisheva, a noted patron of the arts and a sponsor of Diaghilev's magazine "World of Art". Here, over several days, Stravinsky and Roerich finalised the structure of the ballet. Thomas F. Kelly, in his history of the "Rite" premiere, suggests that the two-part pagan scenario that emerged was primarily devised by Roerich. Stravinsky later explained to Nikolai Findeyzen, the editor of the "Russian Musical Gazette", that the first part
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