Le sacre du printemps

Who do we sacrifice for our prosperity? How can we move beyond the narratives of sacrifice and victimhood that haunt our imaginations?

To explore the sacrificial myths underlying contemporary societies, Saša Asentić and his longtime collaborators delve into the story of The Rite of Spring —the sacrifice of a young girl by her community to invoke the fertility of the earth according to a ritual governed by patriarchal law.

As part of a collective bringing together artists with and without disabilities, as well as neurodivergent individuals, from Germany, Serbia, Poland, and Iran, they revisit historical interpretations of Stravinsky’s ballet to offer a critical reinterpretation and effect a fundamental shift: the sacrificed victim gives way to the figure of the survivor, and with her, to the possibility of a different narrative.

Founder of Per.Art—a collective active since 1999 in Novi Sad, Serbia, bringing together artists with and without learning disabilities—choreographer Saša Asentić continues with this new production a unique body of work at the intersection of choreography, theater, and critical reflection. Following Dis_Sylphide, Tanz in der DDR: Was bleibt?, and Dis_Contact —centered on Pina Bausch’s Kontakthof—this Sacre, produced by the Comédie and premiered in Geneva, is part of a cycle that examines the European dance repertoire through the lens of social justice and disability.