If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere!
Jean-Christophe Maillot, the acclaimed charismatic artistic director and choreographer of the Ballets of Monte-Carlo, brought the stars of the Bolshoi Ballet to the stage of the David H. Koch theater (former New York State Theater that opened in 1964) in the framework of the Lincoln Center Festival in New York, July 26-30, 2017, with two programs: Jewels by Balanchine, and the premiere in NY of his own ballet creation of The Taming of the Shrew from the play by William Shakespeare.
Present at the Press Conference in NY were: Nigel Redden, Director of the Lincoln Center Festival, Makhar Vaziev, Director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Katya Novikova, Head of Press and translator of the PC, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Director and Choreographer of the Ballets of Monte-Carlo, Ekaterina Krysanova, Bolshoi Ballet who played Katherina, and Vladislav Lantratov, Bolshoi Ballet who performed in the role of Petruccio.
The NY premiere took place on July 26, followed by other five performances with an added discerning audience of balletomanes more than 15,000 people, who gave standing ovations!
New York City Ballet Orchestra conducted by Igor Dronov
- Choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot
- Assistant to Choreographer Bernice Coppieters
- Set Design Ernest Pignon-Ernest
- Costume Design Augustin Maillot
- Assistant to Costume Designer Jean-Michel Laîné
- Lighting & Video Projection Dominique Drillot
- Assistant Stefani Matthieu
- Dramatist Jean Rouaud
- Répétiteurs Yan Godovsky, Victor Barykin, Josu Zabala
- Music Director Igor Dronov
Premiere cast:
Katharina Ekaterina Krysanova
Petruchio Vladislav Lantratov
Bianca Olga Smirnova
Lucentio Semyon Chudin
Hortensio Igor Tsvirko
Gremio Vyacheslav Lopatin
Widow Yulia Grebenshchikova
Baptista Artemy Belyakov
Housekeeper Yanina Parienko
Grumio Georgy Gusev
A fruitful ongoing collaboration with Bolshoi
The vivacious production The Taming of the Shrew was created by Jean-Christophe Maillot and first opening on July 4, 2014 in Moscow to great success: 41 performances to a sold out theatre between Moscow, Monte-Carlo and London. Three Masque d’Or (Golden Mask) for best show, best male dancer and best female dancer. It was transmitted in direct to more than 1,500 cinemas through out the world in January 2016.
When the Bolshoi approached him, Maillot , had only made ballets for his company the Ballets of Monte-Carlo in more than 20 years. It was Sergei Y. Filin, the former Bolshoi principal, who persuaded him to venture into creating for others. “I didn’t want to buy an existing Maillot ballet,” said Mr. Filin, who since the mid-1990s has followed the career of Mr. Maillot, whose work emphasizes vivid articulation in the neo-Classical vein and sleek visuals. “I knew that he would be able to work in dialogue with the Bolshoi’s artists, to multiply their talents. Jean-Christophe has a sense of humor. He is also able to show sex, but not in a vulgar sense.”
When crisis hit the Bolshoi, Maillot thought his new production, would be postponed as other choreographers pulled out of the planned projects at the Bolshoi at that time, but fearless Maillot agreed to go ahead at the request of Filin, asked him to go ahead, and in fact people think his ballet helped unite a divided company. Filin’s contract as director was not renewed, but he still works with the Bolshoi, supervising aspiring choreographers. He was replaced by Makhar Vaziev, who is determined to continue the fruitful collaboration with Maillot.
Set to Shostakovich’s most vibrant music, Shakespeare’s famously chauvinistic comedy is transformed into a battle of perspicacity between tempestuous Katharina and complacent enfant terrible Petruchio. The Bolshoi’s unrivalled dancers bring to farcical life all of the flattering, self-pride, and pretense that noble Kate finds so tiresome—and that ends up making the unpolished outsider Petruchio seem so attractive to her. Maillot’s version of The Taming of the Shrew for the Bolshoi Ballet transformed the play into a joyful and stylish dance drama. “It’s not Shakespeare’s play, it’s a ballet about the play,” the creative choreographer affirmed.
“What is really special in the Bolshoi is how devoted the dancers are to what they do,” Maillot says. “It is so rare now. They live, they think, they eat ballet. For them there is nothing else. When they have two days free they go into a gala somewhere. They are obsessed with dancing. It is magnificent the way they give themselves, very unique.”
In the photo above: Jean Christophe Maillot, Ballest Master Victor Barykin and the Bolshoi ballet dancers in New York City @DR
Today’s Quote
“You have to believe in what you are saying. Maybe they will like it or not but they cannot contest that what you are saying is true.” Jean-Christophe Maillot
Monaco Reporter 