At his untimely death in 2004, 45-year-old Uwe Scholz was a major choreographer on the international stage. He was the director of the Stuttgart Ballet and principal choreographer at the Leipzig Opera. Fame came to him early, but it was quite some time before he choreographed the Rite of Spring. Indeed, it was not one but two Rites - a solo version on the two-piano adaptation written by Stravinsky himself and another version for a large ensemble produced in Leipzig. His vision of the Rite includes biographical elements, and prophesies his own death, which occurred one year later.