Winter's End: Stopping the Rite and Reclaiming Spring

This dissertation examines intersections of patriarchy, feminist movements, and the recurring theme of women’s sacrifice, through an artistic lens. Using The Rite of Spring as a central subject, I explore the societal expectation of women’s sacrifice and its persistent representation in art. By analyzing two pivotal interpretations, Vaslav Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) and Pina Bausch’s Das Fruhlingsopfer (1975), within the chronological context of feminist waves in the United States, I investigate how these works reflect and critique cycles of violence against women. Four core patterns emerge as focal points: tradition, autonomy, witnessing, and betrayal. Additionally, my choreographic reinterpretation Winter’s End subverts the original narrative, offering a critical reflection on the value of sacrifice while envisioning a shift toward recognizing and honoring the feminine. This study ultimately determines that women have been repeatedly sacrificed through time and explores ways to deter this cycle.