Neumeier’s ‘Camellias’ to bloom again in Seoul as its ‘best version yet’

Legendary choreographer John Neumeier’s “The Lady of the Camellias,” with which ballerina Kang Sue-jin became the first Asian dancer to win the Benois de la Danse award in 1999, will take the stage at the Seoul Arts Center, May 7-11.

Neumeier and Kang, artistic director of The Korean National Ballet, have come together to create “the best possible version of this ballet that we can see right now.”

“Ballet is an art of life,” said Neumeier during a press conference held Tuesday at the Seoul Arts Center. “I have never imagined I would just revive a work. I must recreate a work for it to have value, for it to have life. Without a living (element), it becomes some kind of moving museum.”

Based on Alexandre Dumas fils’ 1848 novel of the same title, the ballet tells the tragic love story of Marguerite Gautier, a Parisian courtesan, and Armand Duval, a young bourgeois, set in 19th-century Paris. Premiered in 1978 for the Stuttgart Ballet, Neumeier’s “The Lady of Camellias” sought to break away from traditional narrative ballet structures.

“At that time, I was searching for a new kind of full-length ballet, one that was different from 19th-century works. (The novel) has a sense of overlapping realities, visions and points of view — similar to the technique of modern cinema.”

The production by the KNB marks the first time a full-length version of the ballet will be performed by an Asian company. And its arrival in Korea holds particular significance for Kang.

“’The Lady of the Camellias’ is very special to me. It expresses love, sacrifice and the deep emotions of human nature through the language of ballet,” she said. “I have truly loved this work, and as artistic director, I have poured my heart into bringing it to the (Korean) stage. I am happy to pass on this ballet, which I have cherished, to the next generation of dancers.”

A former principal dancer with the Stuttgart Ballet, Kang has long been immersed in Neumeier’s world. During a rehearsal, she stepped in to demonstrate scenes alongside her longtime stage partner Marijn Rademaker.

“During this process, I was surprised to find that the movements and emotions of this piece are still alive in my body, my mind and my heart,” she said. “It felt as if the moments I once danced on stage were returning to life.”

Neumeier praised the commitment of Kang and her company. “The Korean National Ballet has given complete cooperation, complete understanding and complete desire to realize this work as the best it can be,” he said.

His collaboration with the company began last year with “The Little Mermaid.” That earlier experience, he said, was essential groundwork, because this ballet not only depends on the two main characters but rather on a balance between all of the 10 characters of the piece — all of whom must be technically and emotionally on the same level.

“It was important for me, in working with the Korean National Ballet, to have an experience before 'The Lady of the Camellias.' So that I would be able to know this company better, be able to judge a balance within a cast.”

Each rehearsal, for him, is a process of discovery.

“I always find something new — some detail, some truth — which I try to give to the dancers,” he said. “I am alive, which means every hour, every minute I work with dancers, I discover new truths. I couldn’t possibly explain them all to you. There’s nothing extraordinary about it, but for me, dance is the living shape of emotion. There is a constant sense of learning and discovering.”