LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS

To explore the sacrificial myths underpinning contemporary societies, Saša Asentić and his long-time collaborators delve into the story of The Rite of Spring—the sacrifice of a young girl by her community in order to invoke the fertility of the earth through a ritual governed by patriarchal law.

Within a collective bringing together disabled and non-disabled, neurodivergent artists from Germany, Serbia, Poland and Iran, the performers revisit the historic interpretations of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet in order to offer a critical re-reading and enact a fundamental shift: the sacrificial victim gives way to the figure of the survivor, and with her, the possibility of a different narrative.

Founder of Per.Art—a collective established in 1999 in Novi Sad, Serbia, bringing together artists with and without learning disabilities—choreographer Saša Asentić continues, with this new production, to develop a singular body of work situated at the intersection of choreography, theatre and critical inquiry. Following Dis_Sylphide, Tanz in der DDR: Was bleibt? and Dis_Contact — centred on Kontakthof by Pina Bausch—this new Rite, produced by Comédie de Genève and premiered in Geneva, forms part of a wider cycle examining the European dance repertoire through the lens of social justice and disability.