""Lady of the Camellias"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 26, 2010
By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©Carol Pardo
The story of the Lady of the Camellias, the consumptive courtesan Marguerite Gautier, and her lover Armand Duval, has attracted everyone from Greta Garbo to Antony Tudor, from Giuseppe Verdi to Frederick Ashton. Even Alexandre Dumas revisited to his novel, based on an affair in his youth, turning it into a (much more successful) play.
This season, American Ballet Theatre is presenting John Neumeier’s adaptation of the novel, originally created in 1978 for Marcia Haydée and the Stuttgart Ballet. The appeal of this version of "Lady of the Camellias" goes beyond its utility as a full-evening story ballet at the Met. Neumeier has distilled his literary source into a basic plot which reads clearly as dance. The key events in the relationship between Marguerite and Armand lend themselves to pas de deux: his ardor versus her skepticism as Armand declares himself; the lovers alone and at the zenith of their happiness; the final flaring of passion, though each has sworn off the other. The lovers are surrounded by friends (generally of the fair weather variety), competitors, swains (unrequited, one comic) and protectors (whether his father or her duke.) These characters provide a context for the story as well as roles for different types of dancers on a company’s roster, from the soubrette to the demi-character dancer to the senior artist. Most of the costumes are alluring and opulent (the exceptions are two dresses in yellow-green gold, one with fuchsia accents, which repel the eyeballs.) The sets are as restrained as the costumes are lush, making the former all the richer. The score uses solo piano and orchestral works by Chopin, a contemporary of Marguerite and Armand and, like her, felled by tuberculosis. Neumeier, who also did the original lighting, has constructed a foolproof armature for his ballet.
Which he proceeds to shoot to pieces. For the choreographer's interest in the methods of telling a story trumps the actual story. The ballet begins with a flashback, from Marguerite’s apartment on March 16, 1847, when her property is being auctioned off, going back in time to her introduction to Armand. From that point on, the story can and should be told sequentially. Instead, in the last act, each scene begins with a rapid prologue during which it is again March 16, 1847 (the auction announcement is trotted out repeatedly) to set up flashbacks to the lovers. It’s enough to make one dizzy if not downright confused.
Marguerite and Armand meet at a performance of "Manon Lescaut." During the performance, both Armand and Marguerite leave their seats and join the pas de deux on stage. They are identifying with the courtesan and her lover from a century earlier. Here is more evidence that Neumeier isn’t really interested in telling Dumas’ story but in literary comparison. For Manon and Des Grieux will reappear at each one of the lovers’ duets, like a momento mori or a ball and chain.
Perhaps Neumeier just doesn’t have the vocabulary for the task. Only a quick little pas de trios in the second act for the leads’ friends and Marguerite’s maid reveals character through the steps. The corps has little to do beyond wear costumes and provide bulk for tableaux. The choreography for the leads (and their ball and chain) consists of slinging the woman all over the place. Marcelo Gomes, as Armand, gave himself to the ballet whole-heartedly. One hopes that he had a masseur in the wings and an appointment with his chiropractor after the show. Diana Vishneva, as Marguerite, had the looks and delicacy for the part. She was particularly affecting in the renunciation scene with Armand’s father. But her world never fully came alive and Neumeier was no help.