Jean-Christophe Maillot‘s The Taming of the Shrew reimagines Shakespeare’s famous comedy as a witty, energetic, and deeply human ballet about the unpredictable nature of love. Rather than presenting the story as a simple tale of a man taming a rebellious woman, Maillot focuses on the encounter between two powerful personalities: Katherine and Petruchio.
Both characters stand apart from the society around them. Their fierce independence, unconventional behaviour, and instinct for solitude make them outsiders, yet these very qualities allow them to recognize something of themselves in one another. Their relationship unfolds as a playful battle of wills, filled with humour, physicality, deception, and unexpected tenderness.
Maillot’s choreography moves between classical ballet and contemporary theatrical expression, giving the characters a vivid physical language. Behind the comedy lies a more serious question: what does it mean to find someone who truly understands and matches us? Katherine’s apparent submission ultimately becomes another form of play, while Petruchio discovers that his new wife cannot simply be reduced to a role imposed by society.
Set to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, with scenography by Ernest Pignon-Ernest, costumes by Augustin Maillot, and lighting by Dominique Drillot, the ballet transforms Shakespeare’s complicated relationship into a vibrant dance of attraction, resistance, and recognition.
Created for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2014, The Taming of the Shrew received three Golden Mask awards and later entered the repertoire of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
