Marguerite and Armand

Marguerite and Armand is a one-act ballet choreographed by Frederick Ashton to music by Franz Liszt (orchestrated by Humphrey Searle), based on Alexandre Dumas fils's novel La Dame aux Camélias. It was created for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev and received its world premiere by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House on 12 March 1963. The ballet tells the tragic story of the courtesan Marguerite Gautier and her doomed love affair with the younger Armand Duval. Ashton conceived the work specifically to showcase the partnership of Fonteyn and Nureyev, and it has since become closely associated with a small number of exceptional partnerships.