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THE NEW PHASE

such well-known acts of primitive ritual, the growth of crops and herbs.

However unorthodox in its effect, the manner in which Le Sacre du Printemps was designed was the same as that laid down by the regular tradition of the ballet. First the music was composed, and then the dances, though previous consultation between composer and choreographer had fixed the main lines on which the ballet was to proceed. This must account for the fusion, not only apparent but real, between the dances arranged by Nijinsky and Stravinsky's score. I doubt, indeed, if this music would prove effective in the concert hall, but its inseparable connection with the ballet must be accounted a virtue rather than an evidence of limitation.

To audiences accustomed to the graceful idealism of former productions, Le Sacre

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