In succession to Chinese Premier Hu Jintao and former French President Jacques Chirac’s initiation of the Sino-French Cultural Year, 2006 brought forth and established the “Sino-French Crossroad Festival”. Since 2006, this cultural exchange has been organized and held every spring by the Embassy of France in China, with help from all consulates. The event includes verious art spheres and its influence reaches far. The Sino-French Crossroad Festival does not only promote the cultural dialogue between Chinese and French artists, but also gives the Chinese public an opportunity to see outstanding French art. The Sino-French Crossroad Festival will commence in April through May of 2009 and will be comprised of events in film, poetry, dance, music, along with many other forms of art. Among these, Rite of Spring is an incredibly valuable performance. Mr.Hervé Ladsous; the ambassador of France in China will assist the première in Chengdu on May 22nd.

Rite of Spring: The Chinese versionalRite of Spring is the ballet creation of the great Russian composer lgor Stravinsky, made in 1913. With distinct Russian flavor, but also having strong primitive and expressionist character, it depicts the sacrificial worship of the tribal celebration of spring in Russia. In 2004, in cooperation with African dancers, French choreographer Heddy Maalem gave a first reinterpretation of this ballet.

This time, drawing inspiration from the tenacious life force of Chinese people from the Wenchuan earthquake, Heddy Maalem will once again use contemporary dance forms to reinterpret Rite of Spring. He will work together with the Beijing Modern Dance Company’s sister conpany, Sichuan Modern Dance company, the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra and the Chengdu new media artist Chen Qiulin, who will create a film projection for the ballet. For the purpose of this particular arrangement, the French choreographer will spend a month in Chengdu to work with the local dancers.

One year after the Wenchuan earthquake, these performances will convey a very important meaning dealing with earth, death and rebirth.

继中国胡锦涛主席和法国前总统雅克·希拉克两国最高领导人发起的中法文化交流年之后，2006年名为“中法文化交流之春”的文化交流活动建立。自2006年名为“中法文化交流之春”的文化交流活动建立。自2006年以来，中法文化交流之春每年春季由法国驻华大使馆及各领事馆组织举办，活动涵盖各个艺术领域，在全国范围均具影响。中法文化交流之春不仅促进法国和中国艺术家的交流，也给中国观众推荐出法国最优秀的艺术。

2009年，《中法文化交流之春》在成都将于4月和5月进行，届时将由电影、诗歌、舞蹈及音乐会等多项艺术活动。《春之祭》是其中一项非常重要的演出，法国驻华大使苏和将出席成都的5月22日首场演出。

中国版《春之祭》《春之祭》是俄国注著名的斯特拉文斯基1913年创作的芭蕾舞剧，描写了俄罗斯原始部族庆祝春天的祭礼，既有鲜明的俄罗斯风格，也有强烈的原始表现主义色彩。法国编舞家海蒂·玛莱姆2004年和非洲舞者合作，第一次编排了此芭蕾舞剧。此次，海蒂·玛莱姆从汶川大地震中中国人民顽强的生命力里汲取灵感，重新以当代舞的形式编排《春之祭》，由北京现代舞团的姐妹团四川现代舞团和四川交响乐团倾情演出，生活和工作在成都的中国新媒体艺术家陈秋林将为舞蹈创作视频。为了这次编排，法国编舞家赴成都一个多月时间，和四川舞者一起工作。

正值汶川大地震一周年纪念，《春之祭》将用精彩的舞蹈向四川观众展示重生的意念和崭新的视听感受！