23-28 Sept 2006. In Romeo and Juliet, choreography by John Cranko. Following the success of his Prince of the Pagodas for the La Scala ballet, South African born choreographer John Cranko was invited to create a new work for that company. He chose Romeo and Juliet to the Prokofiev score. The first performance took place in 1958 at the Teatro Verde in Venice. It was mounted at La Scala, Milan in 1959, and Cranko restaged it for his own Stuttgart Ballet in 1962 with new designs by Jurgen Rose. Cranko emphasizes the human drama and his version of Shakespeares tragedy is truly engrossing and haunting in its beauty.