[On Stage] Legendary Choreographer Neumeier: "Ballet Dancers Must Become Living Forms of Emotion"

National Ballet Company to Premiere 'The Little Mermaid' from Next Month 1-5
"Returning to the Original Fairy Tale... Different from the Disney Movie"

"The main philosophy of my work is to humanize ballet. In other words, to make the dancer become a living form of emotion."

World-renowned ballet choreographer John Neumeier said this at a press conference for the National Ballet of Korea's 200th regular performance, The Little Mermaid, held at the Seoul Arts Center on the 23rd. The National Ballet of Korea will premiere Neumeier's choreography of The Little Mermaid domestically at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center from May 1 to 5.

The Little Mermaid is a contemporary ballet work choreographed by Neumeier in 2005 upon commission from the Royal Danish Ballet to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen. It premiered on April 15 of that year.

John Neumeier, Artistic Director of Hamburg Ballet [Photo provided by National Ballet]

Neumeier emphasized that his The Little Mermaid "is a work that returns to Andersen's original story," explaining, "Therefore, it is very different from the The Little Mermaid made by Disney."

He explained that in the Disney animation, the little mermaid becomes human and has a happy ending with the prince she loves, but the original story is different.

"In the original The Little Mermaid, the mermaid is given a chance to regain her tail. The sea witch promises that if the little mermaid kills the prince, she can get her tail back. But the little mermaid loves the prince so much that she cannot make that choice. She cannot become a mermaid again, but by the mercy of God, she becomes an air spirit tasked with purifying the air, and that is how the story ends."

Neumeier also explained that The Little Mermaid is a story reflecting Andersen's autobiographical life. "Andersen fell in love with a man named Edward, but Edward later married a woman. Andersen went through hardship because of this and projected it into the story of The Little Mermaid."

In short, while the Disney animation ends happily with the little mermaid achieving love, Neumeier emphasized that the theme of Andersen's original fairy tale is forbidden or difficult love.

Neumeier explained that although love is the theme of many ballet works, the theme of The Little Mermaid is very unique. "The reason is that the beautiful being, the mermaid, longs to leave her own world. And the cause of that longing is love. The little mermaid chooses sacrifice and pain to leave her world, and the reason she accepts that sacrifice and pain is love."

Neumeier was born in 1939 in Milwaukee, USA, and studied ballet in Milwaukee and Chicago during his childhood. He majored in English literature at Marquette University and after graduation went to Europe to study ballet seriously. In 1963, he joined the Stuttgart Ballet, where the legendary choreographer John Cranko (1927?1973) was artistic director, and in 1969 he became artistic director of the Frankfurt Ballet. At the Frankfurt Ballet, he successfully reinterpreted classics such as Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker. In 1973, he became artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet and has held the position for over 50 years. In 1992, he won the Benois de la Danse Award in choreography, known as the ballet world's equivalent of the Academy Awards.

John Neumeier, Artistic Director of Hamburg Ballet (left), and Kang Sujin, Director of the National Ballet of Korea [Photo by National Ballet of Korea]

He also has a deep connection with Kang Sue-jin, director of the National Ballet of Korea and former principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet. Kang Sue-jin played the lead role in Neumeier's representative work Lady of the Camellias and in 1999 became the first Korean to win the Benois de la Danse Award in the dancer category.

Neumeier praised Kang's interpretation of Lady of the Camellias at that time. "She not only perfectly understood the emotional structure of the protagonist but also made remarkable efforts to develop it further. She transformed and evolved the role into something quite different from the original dancer's version, and I was deeply impressed by her."

Neumeier plans to step down as artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet next year. He said, "I never imagined working in one city for over 50 years. It was not always comfortable or easy, but it was possible because of continuous struggle and effort." Even at an age well over 80, he said, "The peak of my creativity has not yet come. I am still waiting for that time."