Humble woman, wild, playful, noisy... "The Taming of the Taming" is one of the most maverick works in Shakespeare's comedy. The Monte Carlo Ballet will present the fun dance drama "Taming of the Taming" at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, making this Shakespeare opera bloom with a unique charm full of modern atmosphere under the tiptoe interpretation. It is also the only stop on the Chinese mainland of the company's world tour. It is reported that the dance drama just opened tickets last weekend, and set off a rush to buy among the Shanghai dance fan group.
"Taming" tells the story of the "savage girlfriend" who is eventually "tamed" by love. The heroine of the play is no longer a light and elegant princess, but a spicy and stubborn girl next door, on the stage she can bend over, play tricks, jump like thunder, but also a variety of foreign, full of fireworks. Shanghai audiences may be unfamiliar with this dance drama, but in fact, it has a special significance in the history of world ballet. In 2011, the Bavarian Munich State Ballet performed "The Taming of the Taming", a work created by Johann Kranko for the Stuttgart Ballet in the 1970s, which has been hailed as "a dance that changed the face of the world's theatrical ballet". From the moment Cranco's version of Taming was born, the dramatic plot became the heart of the dance drama, and the ballet began to tiptoe to tell the story. The "Taming of the Trainers" was written by the world choreographer Jean Christopher Mayo, a version he was invited to create for the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet and won three awards at the Russian "Golden Mask Award" as soon as it was premiered. In 2017, Major refitted the play at the Monte Carlo Ballet and premiered it at the Grimaldi Conference Centre in Monaco.
The Monte Carlo Ballet is a "regular" on the Shanghai stage, having staged works such as "Romeo and Juliet", "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and so on. The company was formerly known as the Dhaghiliev Russian Ballet, which was rebuilt in 1985 by the Princess of Hanover. In 1993, Jean-Christopher Majoux served as the head of the dance company, and continued the glorious legend of Europe's top dance companies with a series of wonderful works.
The choreographer "Ghost Talent" Mayo rejects the unchanging style, interpreting classic masterpieces from a modern perspective, making them connect with the lives of contemporary people, which is what he likes and is good at. When composing the dance drama "Taming", Mayo did not simply adapt the original text into a "machismo" declaration, but interpreted it as a fun experience of collision and friction between men and women, and finally knowing each other. He chooses a new perspective to reveal the character characteristics and psychological state of the characters, and uses costume props and sets to make this story created more than 400 years ago present a strong sense of modernity. The big double dance in "Taming" occupies a large proportion, but each dance section is very different due to the different character relationships and storylines, and the dance rhythm of the original is very refreshing, giving people a refreshing visual experience. Musically, Major chose a number of pieces composed by Shostakovich. At the end of the ballet "Taming", the familiar tune of "Mandarin Duck Tea" sounded, and young lovers interpreted a small fragment of "love and killing" around the theme of love, pushing the witty and lively atmosphere to the climax.
Author: Xuanjing
Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Grand Theatre
Editor: Wang Xiaoli