Festival closes out with “Taming of the Shrew”

At the forefront of dance creation for decades, Stuttgart Ballet is famous for its pioneering works and “Taming of the Shrew” is one of its most lauded creations – a delightful ballet distinguished by spectacular dancing and hilarious action that does complete justice to the Shakespearean classic.
The entertaining two-hour ballet with lavish scenery and costumes, celebrates pure dance and strongly underlines Stuttgart Ballet’s classical traditions. 
Stuttgart Ballet has built on its hometown’s long history of classical ballet, which goes all they way back to the 17th-century. Evolving from the court ballet of the Dukes of Wurttemberg, Stuttgart Ballet further underlines the city’s position as an acclaimed centre for dance in Europe. In 1957, Nicolas Beriozoff, a former dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, was appointed to lead the ensemble. In 1961, acclaimed dancer John Cranko took over shaping the company “into a group with an exciting and visually arresting style”. His full-length narrative ballets – “Romeo and Juliet”, “Onegin” and “The Taming of the Shrew”, among several others, captured the attention of the ballet world. 
The company’s first tour to the US in 1969 established Stuttgart Ballet as a classical company of note in America; Europe had already been conquered. The triumphant tour had critics talking about the “The Stuttgart Ballet Miracle”. Critics raved over the way he company danced with vitality, with passion and with great respect for the classical art form.
Over the years great dancers emerged and went on to become choreographers of note, among them Neumeier, William Forsythe, Uwe Scholz, Jiri Kylian and Renato Zanella. 
“The Taming of the Shrew” underlines the critics’ contention that the company was a Stuttgart miracle. Cranko turned Shakespeare’s famous comedy into a two-act whimsical and witty masterpiece, set to a delightful score orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze (after Domenico Scarlatti). Critics have hailed this ballet as a “masterclass in transforming classic play into a ballet that celebrates pure dance”. With movement and music, Cranko’s choreography unveils the story of the constantly battling lovers Petruchio and Katherina. Petruchio is determined to “tame” Katherina, but Katherina will have none of it. The lavish sets and scenery by Elisabeth Dalton perfectly reflect Padua.
Today under the command of Reid Anderson, the company has a stylistically broad repertoire that attracts the best dance talent from all over the world. All of these well-established dancers will be performing in Bangkok. 
Among them are Elisa Badenes and Alicia Amatriain who will dance Katherina on October 18 and October 19 respectively, while Petruchio is portrayed by Adhonay Soares da Silva on October 18th and Jason Reilly on October 19. Amatriain and Reilly both hold the national title of “Kammertaenzerin”, the highest status a dancer can achieve in Germany. 
The show is supported by Crown Property Bureau, Bangkok Bank (PCL), Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (PCL), BMW Thailand, B.Grimm Group, Dusit Thani Bangkok, Indorama Ventures, Ministry of Culture, Nation Group, PTT (PCL), Singha Corporation, Thai Airways International, Thai Union Group (PCL), and Tourism Authority of Thailand. 
Tickets are available at Thai Ticket Major (www.ThaiTicketMajor.com), or hotline (02) 262 3191 and at the counters.
For more information visit www.BangkokFestivals.com.