The three-act ballet Lady of the Camellias made its premiere in 1978. Based on Alexandre Dumas Fils' world famous novel of the same title, it was choreographed by John Neumeier, the Artistic Director of The Hamburg Ballet. It accords with everyone's wishes that this famous masterpiece could be carried onto the stage in the form of ballet. The accompanying music for the ballet is from Chopin, and it was at that time produced for Marcia Haydee, who is not only the artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet but also one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. The ballet is the testimony for the two partners' successful cooperation.

Being adapted from literary masterpieces has always been the tradition of ballet; meanwhile, it has also become a challenge to ballet. Literature not only offers ballet rich nutrition but also makes ballet's standing point more difficult to settle, thus those famous dramatic ballets that could become a history must come from masters, and John Neumeier, the choreographer of Lady of the Camellias, is the best testimony.

Lady of the Camellias vividly portrays the characters' psychological world and skillfully depicts the dramatic plot, and it could be named the classic of dramatic ballet. The excellent arrangement makes full use of dance and stagecraft, which gives spectators a satisfied enjoyment. In Act I, Manon Lescaut, another famous courtesan, appeared on the stage and projected the tragic destiny of courtesans; the dance in this scenario not only presents the excellent choreography but also vividly and in an unexpected way depicts the characters' psychological struggle and subtle change, and gives spectators a double shock on vision and heart.

Meanwhile, the unique stage design also contributes to the ballet's perfection. It not only has the luxurious aristocratic court but also includes the simple white space, which in a stage-oriented way presents to the spectators the huge contrast and strong contradiction between truth and illusion, reality and imagination, dream and recollection, hope and despair that appeared in the ballet, and directly touches the softest part of the human heart.

Synopsis
Marguerite Gautier, a famous courtesan in Paris who was appointed Lady of the Camellias because of her love for camellias, passed away from the world. In her luxurious home, an auction of her clothing and possessions is unfolding. Armand Duval, Marguerite's lover, also appears on the stage. A novel Manon Lescaut comes into his view and brings him back into past:

In the luxurious theater the ballet Manon Lescaut is staged, Marguerite seems to foresee her own future and she determines not to follow Manon's life. Armand, a young man who is in love with Marguerite, tells her his love and they fall in love with each other, however, Marguerite's sickness and the luxurious life that she has long been accustomed to becomes the largest hidden trouble between them.

Armand's father, when he hears that his son is in love with a courtesan, comes to stop him. With her deep love for Armand Marguerite chooses to give up and with great agony she tells Armand a lie saying that she still loves her previous luxurious life.

When Marguerite knows that she will die soon, she goes to see Armand. They find that they still love each other, then the image of Manon appears into her mind again, and Marguerite decides to keep the promise and leaves Armand again. Armand's father at last tells his son the truth, Armand gets quite shocked, but it is too late, Marguerite has left the world lonely, with endless aspiration, just like camellias, wither and fall.

The Hamburg Ballet
The Hamburg Ballet, also known as the Hamburg State Opera Ballet, is an internationally acclaimed ballet company as well as one of the Four Major German Ballet Companies. Established in 1678, The Hamburg Ballet offered its clients regular ballet performances. These seem to have been rather crude, despite being performed to music by such eminent composers as Jean-Baptiste Lully and Georg Telemann.

Since the late 1960s, The Hamburg Ballet became the first European company with a solid Balanchine repertory. This approach culminated in the city's official celebration of Stravinsky's eightieth birthday in June 1962, with the composer himself in the pit conducting the company's production of Apollo, triple billed with Orpheus and Agon, all choreographed by Balanchine.

In 1970, standards deteriorated until John Neumeier was appointed ballet director three years later. Since then, the Company has multiplied its performances acquired a broad and varied repertory of classics and contemporary works, gained some performing spaces outside the opera house, and considerably enlarged the affiliated ballet school. Many of John Neumeier works for The Hamburg Ballet have been large-scale undertakings. His staging of Bach's complete Saint Matthew Passion started its life in one of Hamburg's parish churches but is now performed in the opera house, and his ballet inspired by the plays of Shakespeare form a major group of works in the Hamburg repertory, such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamle—Connotations, and more.

The Company gives regular workshop matinees in which Neumeier lectures on and demonstrates various aspects of his craft. During The Hamburg Ballet Days at the end of each season, the company presents a summary of its work, culminating in the Nijinsky Galas arranged each year around a different subject.

Artistic Director: John Neumeier
Since 1973 John Neumeier has been Director and Chief Choreographer of The Hamburg Ballet, since 1996 he has been Ballettintendant. In 1963 he joined the Stuttgart Ballet, where he progressed to solo dancer. Before being appointed Director in Hamburg, he had been Director of Ballet in Frankfurt since 1969. Under Neumeier's direction The Hamburg Ballet became one of the leading ballet companies of the German dance scene and soon received international recognition. As a choreographer, Neumeier has continually focused on the preservation of ballet tradition, while giving his works a modern dramatic framework. He has worked as a guest choreographer with many companies, including The Royal Ballet in London, the State Operas of Vienna, Munich and Dresden as well as The Ballet of the Paris Opera and The Tokyo Ballet. He received various awards, most recently the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize in 2007 and the Deutscher Jubiläums Tanzpreis in 2008. He was made an honorary citizen of the city of Hamburg in 2007.