The French courtesan Marguerite Gautier is almost at the end of her life. Being at the final stage of her illness,she is visited by the ghosts of her past, as her doctor and her faithful maid Nanine try desperately to pacify her. She hallucinates her own funeral procession, with antagonists from her life, and the return of her lover Armand Duval. In her mind an Angel appears to take her away but she refuses to go. She is not ready, yet…

 

In 2019, the Shanghai Ballet presented a brand-new version of the ballet The Lady of the Camellias. This production is based on the novel written by the French author Alexandre Dumas fils. It was choreographed by Derek Deane, the former artistic director of the English National Ballet. Derek employed a flashback technique, starting the story at the deathbed of the protagonist, Marguerite Gautier, and then unfolding the sincere, passionate, yet tumultuous and helpless love story between her and the male lead, Armand Duval.

 

The music for the ballet was composed by Carl Davis, known for his work on the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. His compositions bring a powerful and rich dramatic resonance to the ballet, creating an entirely new auditory experience.

 

 

 

Choreographer/Derek Deane
Composer/Carl Davis
Set & Costume Designer/Adam Nee
Lighting Designer/Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson
Assistant to Choreographer/lvan Gil Ortega

 

With a deep reverence for the original work and a fascination with the character of "the Lady of the Camellias," Marguerite Gautier, the ballet faithfully recreates the novel's plot. Using the flashback method, it stages Marguerite and Armand's brief but intense love story, from their encounter to their passionate love and ultimately their inability to stay together. One of the ballet's greatest highlights is the incorporation of an extremely rich vocabulary of ballet movements to depict the genuine emotions of the characters.

 

 

In terms of set design, the ballet The Lady of the Camellias utilizes up to 60 categories and hundreds of hard-scenery props, 85 costumes, and a total of 96 sets of accessories, including headdresses, wigs, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and more. These elements work together to create the opulent and elegant atmosphere of 1850s French high society, as well as picturesque pastoral landscapes reminiscent of oil paintings. Particularly noteworthy is the scene where the two protagonists first meet at the Paris Opera. The British designer, Adam倪, conducted extensive research to perfectly recreate the 19th-century Paris Opera on stage.

 

The music for The Lady of the Camellias is penned by the renowned composer Carl Davis. Davis's musical works possess a quality akin to film scores, not only fitting seamlessly with the ballet but also brimming with dramatic conflicts and tension, perfectly setting the mood throughout the performance.