A Dramatic Story Told with a Smile

LIVE IN THE CINEMA: On the 24th of January the ballet The Taming of the Shrew will be transmitted to a chain of cinemas around Europe direct from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

The ballet, based on Shakespeare's play, was created especially for the Bolshoi Ballet by Jean-Christophe Maillot, Artistic Director at the Ballets de Monte Carlo.

Jean-Christophe Maillot tells Dansportalen that he got a request from the ballet director at the Bolshoi Ballet, Sergei Filin, to create a new ballet for their company.

"It was a tough decision to make, because that was something I had not done since I took over the leadership at Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. But I said 'yes' because I like the Moscow company very much and would love to work with the dancers there.

For the subject I wanted something dramatic and I have for many years intended to make a ballet after Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. I wanted to do it for Bernice Coppieters, star dancer of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, but it was never the right time. When she recently retired from dancing, I said to myself: I will do it anyway, and the invitation from the Bolshoi was the ideal occasion.

The story is full of interesting characters  even if it seems dated in its views on the relations between women and men. It needs to be treated with an open mind and a good sense of irony. I like to work with stories from a light perspective.  In this story there are all kinds of relationships, and I found it interesting to show different ways of how a man can win an unwilling woman over.

It is a dramatic story told with a smile. Katarina and Petruchio are equally strong personalities, who would not fall for a just anyone. But – passion always wins!

It was the first time my wife Bernice Coppieters worked with me in the capacity of assistant choreographer. Having her by my side helped a lot, and we could discuss all the different relations as a couple."

Maillot continues; "I come from an artistic family – my father was a set designer, my brother is a composer and there are also actors, singers and stage directors in the family. I started my career as a dancer with John Neumeier in Hamburg, but an injury at 20 ended my dancing days.

By accident the costumes for this ballet are designed by my son Augustin Maillot. He jumped in when the originally chosen designer had to withdraw. Augustin is a fashion designer at Chanel. This was his first time as a theatre designer, so he was a bit nervous – but I am very proud of the result.

My future plans include a new ballet in December 2016 for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. It will be a fairy tale on the dark side, in the spirit of  Charles Perrault and incorporating the story of the most famous ballet movie, The Red Shoes. I wanted to use movie music and the score will be by Danny Elfman, film-maker Tim Burton's favourite composer."

The premiere of Taming of the Shrew at the Bolshoi Theatre was on the 4th of July 2014.

At the 2015 presentation of the most prestigious theatre awards in Russia, the Golden Mask, for the best dance production was given to The Taming of the Shrew. The leading couple Ekaterina Krysanova and Vladislav Lantratov were awarded the prizes as the best dancers.

Anders Jorlén
February 18 2016