Where can I find a copy (VHS or DVD) of a ballet performance of
Stravinsky's Rite of Spring?  I haven't been able to locate it under
that title, but suspect it MAY be included within another dance
performance recording.

Hello.

The best place i found was this company 

http://www.dancehorizons.com/perf.html

The video of "Le Sacre du Printemps" is available performed by the
European Dance Theatre and is the first one listed under "S" for some
reason.

Their contact details are

The dance specialists
Princeton Book Company, Publishers
P.O. Box 831
Hightstown, New Jersey 08520-0831
Phone 609-426-0602 or 800-220-7149
Fax 609-426-1344

E-mail: pbc@dancehorizons.com


I found lots of other recordings on CD for Le Sacre du Printemps. 
There is a DVD of the London Symphony Orchestra's performance of the
same at
http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=v&id=1804463448

http://www.arts-books.com/raresearch.cfm will take you to a page
wherein the experts in this field will search you out a copy.

Hope this helps. Happy Viewing.

Johnny Phoenix

I've searched quite a few sites, some the usual suspects like
Amazon.com and others specializing in dance videos, plus the sites of
specific ballet companies and have not found a video of Rite of
Spring/Le Sacre du Printemps.

I must move on, but here is a site with about a dozen dance video
sites.
http://www.artslynx.org/dance/video_resources.htm
Perhaps you can used them in your quest, or another researcher may
pick up where I've left off.

It seems impossible that there is no video. Perhaps if someone could
find a source of videos from the Ballet Russe for whom the ballet was
choreographed, there might be something.

I'm sorry I couldn't find it for you.
I hope someone else can.

Nellie Bly

Hi,

Several choreographers have undertaken Rite of Spring.The original
choreography by Nijinsky was lost but an excellent reconstruction was
undertaken by Millicent Hodgson. It may be viewed in selected
libraries (NYPL being a definite one) but is not available for
purchase. There is however one video of other Ballets Russes ballets
available called Paris Dances Diaghilev which includes one of
Nijinsky's other ballets L'Apres-midi d'un Faune and a Stravinsky
ballet choreographed by his sister, Nijinska, called Les Noces which
has certain similarities with Rite of Spring. As it seems that your
primary interest lies in Stravinsky this may be of interest to you.

The most recent choreography of Rite of Spring took place last April
in Dublin, Ireland as far as I know with Coisceim Dance Theatre and
their choreographer David Bolger, but the seminal interpretation since
Nijinsky probably rests with  Pina Bausch (again available for viewing
in libraries). To the very best of my knowledge there is no video for
purchase of any danced version of Rite of Spring. Sorry.

The video at the heart of my search was of the recreated The original
choreography by Nijinsky. It was televised by the Boston PBS TV
station sometime in the late 1970s or very early 1980s.  I searched
their (WGBH)
online but it wasn't available there. I've coveted that riveting performance
ever since I saw it. As with nellie_bly, I came up empty wlsewhere.
It's hard to imagine that WGBH would let such a rare performance fall off the earth.