Stuttgart honors a ballet Prometheus with a festival.

STUTTGART -- For a man who lived a short life, John Cranko left a long legacy. That legacy will be remembered this month when Stuttgart Ballet holds its first ever Hommage a John Cranko festival, October 1 to 16 at the Stuttgart Opera House.

"In 1997 John Cranko would have turned seventy," Stuttgart Ballet Intendant (or director) Reid Anderson said of the man who brought the company into the major leagues as its director from 1961 until his death in 1973. "I think it is fitting not only to present some of his greatest ballets but also works by the important choreographers whom he encouraged and inspired, choreographers who, each in his own way, have had a major impact on the international dance scene."

Those dancemakers include John Neumeier, William Forsythe, and Uwe Scholz, all of whom will present work. The event will also include Cranko masterpieces.

"I think there could not be a better birthday present for John than to have the Stuttgart Ballet -- the company he essentially created -- perform works which today are considered masterpieces, as well as works by the generation of major choreographers who all got their start in Stuttgart," said Anderson, who danced with Stuttgart under Cranko.

The festival's dance portion opens October 3 with a revival of Cranko's Initials R.B.M.E., on a mixed program with Neumeier's hello, to music by George Couroupos, created originally at Neumeier's Hamburg Ballet for Margaret Illmann and Robert Tewsley, now principals at Stuttgart; Jiri Kylian's Nuages, to music by Debussy; a piece by Forsythe, undetermined at press time; and a premiere by Scholz, who now directs Leipzig Ballet.

Scholz, who studied, danced, and began choreographing at Stuttgart, said, "The twelve years I spent in Stuttgart -- from being a student at the school to becoming the first resident choreographer after Cranko's death -- have greatly influenced my further development up to my present artistic directorship." Likening Cranko to "a kind of Prometheus amongst choreographers," Scholz added that "one can feel the strong emotional connection to his Stuttgart Ballet: The quick sensing of the diverse qualities of its `body' and the intelligent love of this artist to gently present Stuttgart Ballet's best sides in a unique way. [The company is] a rare example in this mostly ego-concentrated ballet world. The right people--intendant, choreographer, and his soloists--met at the right place at the right time, a miracle already, and for sure, one key to the `Stuttgart Ballet Miracle.'"

Other Cranko ballets on display during the festival are Onegin, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and a mixed program of Brouillards, Salade, Ebony Concerto, and Jeu de Cartes.

Other festival highlights are an exhibition, a symposium of critics, and a lecture-demonstration on Cranko's style, given by Anderson.