The ballet "The Rite of Spring" by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was first presented on May 29, 1913, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The decorations, costumes, and libretto were created by Nikolai Roerich, with Vaslav Nijinsky as the choreographer and Sergei Diaghilev as the impresario.

The idea for the ballet came to Stravinsky after a dream in which he saw an ancient ritual: a young girl, surrounded by elders, dances to exhaustion to awaken spring and meets her demise. Stravinsky worked on the music simultaneously with Roerich, who was creating sketches for the sets and costumes. According to Roerich, he was the author of the libretto.

Nijinsky, a talented dancer, found it challenging to stage the ballet. He faced difficulties in expressing his thoughts and conveying his vision to the performers. The work on "The Rite of Spring" required great effort from him, Stravinsky, and Diaghilev, but the audience at the premiere did not appreciate their labor. Stravinsky's music provoked outrage, and the audience booed the ballet, ignoring the originality and complexity of the choreography based on pagan rituals. Ballerina Romola Nijinsky, future wife of Nijinsky, was at the premiere and described the events:

The excitement and cries reached a paroxysm. People whistled, cursed the artists and the composer, shouted and laughed. I was stunned by this hellish noise and rushed backstage. It was just as bad there as in the hall. The dancers trembled and held back tears. Long hours of work and endless rehearsals ended in this chaos.

Despite this, "The Rite of Spring" remained one of Diaghilev's favorite ballets. Nikolai Roerich recalled that Diaghilev believed in the future appreciation of the performance by the audience and said:

This is a true victory! Let them whistle and rave! Internally, they already feel the value, and the whistling is just a conventional mask. You will see the consequences.