Three Duets of Katarina and Petruchio in John Kranko's Ballet The Taming of the Shrew: on the Question of Choreographic Interpretation of the Literary Source

Abstract

The subject of this article is the interpretation of J. Kranko images of Katarina and Petruchio in three duets of the ballet "The Taming of the Shrew", studied in contextual comparison with the original text – the comedy of W. Shakespeare. The purpose of the study is to determine the place of the three duets of the main characters in Kranko's performance, drawing ideological and figurative parallels with the text of the original source, and to identify expressive means and choreographic elements used by the choreographer in their production. The methods of ballet studies analysis approved by ballet historians Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Surits were used as a theoretical basis; the works of choreographer and ballet art theorist Lopukhov became the methodological basis for the analysis of choreography. Other sources used include video materials from the archives of the Stuttgart State Opera and the Bolshoi Theater. The work on the article required a historical approach – the involvement of materials (videotapes and reviews) from 1969 to 1996.. The methods of ideological and artistic analysis and semantic analysis of the choreographic construction of the duets of Katarina and Petruchio were also used. The detailed semantic analysis of the choreography and composition of the duets of the main characters has become the main research tool. The new results include the identification and comparison of staging tools developed and used by the choreographer. In the first duet it is an alternation of syncopated pas, acrobatic elements, movements on the floor; in the second – plastic imitations of funny and awkward situations; in the third – technically rich choreographic development of duet dance (which corresponds to the three phases of the development of the relationship of the heroes: duel, ridicule, harmony). So, the modification of the images and relationships of the main characters of J. Kranko concludes The Taming of the Shrew in three duets, making them meaningful fragments that form the concept of ballet, as well as the author's view of the plot of the comedy by W. Shakespeare.