John Neumeier’s free adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novella Death in Venice — which Mann wrote in 1911 after a stay in the lagoon city — was created for the outstanding dancers of the Hamburg Ballet. Neumeier‘s choreography walks a fine line between incisive theatricality and melodrama, between dazzlingly elaborate movements and everyday gestures — thus portraying through the medium of dance the secret desire of an ageing artist whose last great love causes him to fall apart.

‘In a sense, my ballet is a love story about life. What fascinates me in Mann’s novella is his depiction of all-consuming love. In my ballet, Aschenbach is a master choreographer who becomes forced, through Tadzio, to confront a neglected aspect of his humanity. At first resisting his emotional reaction to the boy, he soon tries to find an artistic justification for his obsession. But eventually he gives in, turning from art to life, and ultimately to death in Venice.’ (John Neumeier)