When you think of a ballet, you hear soft rhythmic notes and see ballerinas dancing elegantly on tiptoe on the stage. This is also what people expected to see in the early 1900s when they planned to attend a ballet. However, a couple of motivated artists in 1913 literally planned to change the design of ballet, music and dance forever. On May 29, 1913, a ballet entitled The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris, France. The original title translated from Russian to French is; Le Sacre du Printemps, or the rite of spring, but the literal translation from Russian to English means “Sacred Spring”. The ballet and music were composed by Igor Stravinsky, with the help of Nicholas Roerich, who proposed the general idea behind the ballet to Stravinsky. Roerich wanted to set in motion the ideas behind pre-Christian pagan rituals in Russia. Together the two created the plot behind the ballet; a sacred pagan ritual in which a young woman dances to her death and is then offered to the "Gods" of spring to make them happy. The music was composed by Vaslav Nijinsky and the ballet was produced by Sergei Diaghilev for the Russian Ballet. This ballet was so different from what spectators expected to see that it caused a riot. The Rite of Spring turned the tables on ballet in every sense: the dance, the music and the general idea of ​​the ballet were modernized by the group of artists who created and produced it. Vaslov Nijinsky was the choreographer of this ballet. He was considered the greatest dancer of the 20th century and his works were known for their controversies. In this ballet Nijinsky's choreography far exceeds the limits of traditional ballet. And for the first time audiences have experienced the... medium of paper... to maintain its wonderful range of melody, intensity and control, reminding audiences that it is still a contemporary and classic piece of work.Works Cited Taylor, Jake. “Igor Stravinsky – Le Sacre du Printemps.” SputnikMusic. 10 August 2008. Web. 17 September 2011. < http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/26668/Igor-Stravinsky-Le-Sacre-du-printemps/>.“The Rite of Spring”. Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. September 12, 2011. Jimmy Whales. Network. 17 September 2011. .Gutmann, Pietro. “Igor Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring”. Classical notes. 2002. Network. 17 September 2011. .Rytell, David. “Music worthy of a riot.” David Rytell's home page. 1989. Network. September 17 2011. .