Lady of the Camelias Male Solo 5 Liska Bullion Ovcharenko Rademaker Lantratov

5 Male solos from The Lady of the Camellias/"Die Kameliendame" a ballet by John Neumeier in choreographed in 1979 for Marcia Haydee.

In order of appearance:
Ivan Liska (Marcia Haydee) 1989 Stuttgart Ballet
Steven Bullion (Agnes Letestu) 2008 Paris Opera Ballet
Artem Ovcharenko (Olga Smirnova) 2012 Bolshoi Ballet
Marjin Rademaker (?? Sue Jin Kang??) 2007 Hamburg Ballet
Vlasislav Lantrotov (Svetlana Zakharova) 2012 Bolshoi Ballet

Included in the first clip is some context. Dame Camellias is a story told in flash backs, not an easy thing to do in a live performance. Clearly the excerpt of Ivan Liska was filmed in a studio. The other performances were filmed theatrical performances. Steven Bullion was professionally filmed the others are private filming.

Armand falls in love with Marguerite and ultimately becomes her lover, convincing her to turn her back on her life as a "courtisane" and live with him in the countryside. This idyllic existence is broken by Armand's father, who, concerned by the scandal created by the illicit relationship and fearful that it will destroy his daughter's (Armand's sister's) chances of marriage, convinces Marguerite to leave Armand, who believes, up until Marguerite's death, that she has left him for another man. Marguerite's death is described as an unending agony, during which Marguerite, abandoned by everyone, can only regret what might have been.

Unlike the love of the Chevalier des Grieux for Manon Lescaut (to which story Dumas himself makes reference at the beginning of The Lady of the Camellias), Armand's love is for a woman who is ready to sacrifice her riches and her lifestyle for him, but who is thwarted by the arrival of Armand's father.

Dumas is careful to paint a favourable portrait of Marguerite, who despite her past is rendered virtuous by her love for Armand, and the suffering of the two lovers, whose love is shattered by the need to conform to the morals of the times, is rendered touchingly.