By He Jianwei

Germany's Stuttgart Ballet will stage in Beijing next month The Taming of the Shrew, first performed in China 22 years ago.

The Shakespeare comedy, which will be presented in two acts, is choreographed by South African John Cranko, who brought his Prince of the Pagodas to Stuttgart on his initial visit in 1960. He stayed for three years in the southern German city to nurture a troupe that has since become the country's finest classical dance company.

When Cranko became Stuttgart Ballet's director in 1961, a new phase in the company's history began. The choreographer also renewed and redefined the genre of full-length narrative ballets with his productions of Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew and Aleksandr Pushkin's Onegin. Dancers worldwide covet a leading role in one of these ballets.

Cranko's version of The Shrew, which premiered in 1969, tells through subtle gestures Petruchio's taming of Kathrina, while keeping Shakespeare's wit and melodic prose. It also incorporates the irony found in the English playwright's text as the stormy, ever-changing relationship between Katherina and Petruchio unfolds.

Katherina, an intelligent and outspoken woman, is thought to be a shrew because she resents the special attention men give her empty-headed and vain sister Bianca. Petruchio marries her for her money and then sets out to win her heart by plotting to gain her submission.

In the first part of the story, Katherina is the more dominant character while Petruchio is the suitor. In the second, he becomes the more dominant person; she the obedient wife. In the end, they find balance and true love.

The ballet's triumphant taming scene, with its humor and delirious body movements, is one of the drama's highs.

But the question of who really tames who remains unresolved at the final curtain. The Shrew is one story that tickles the funny bone while at the same time touching the heart.


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