I’ll state upfront that ‘Coppelia’ is probably my least favourite of the ‘big’ classical ballets. The story is unpleasant and most of the dancing is of the same format – group of dancing peasants and small solo pieces by the main characters. Still, I went to see the latest production by the Royal New Zealand Ballet last night as it had been many years since I last saw it.
The story is basically about a silly girl called Swanhilda, who thinks her boyfriend, Franz, has fallen for a mysterious girl who sits in the window of the eccentric Dr Coppelius’ house. What none of them realise is that this girl is an automated doll. Swanhilda and her friends gain access to the house (thanks to the men of the village beating up Dr Coppelius and him dropping his key – see what I mean about this being a charming story), and as Dr C returns and throws out her friends, she hides by dressing in the clothes of the automaton. Franz meanwhile climbs in through the workshop window, is drugged by Dr C, who then tries some magic to transfer the life force from him to the doll. Of course, this ‘works’ as the doll is of course Swanhilda, who then proceeds to dance and trick Dr C. When Franz wakes up, the couple wreak havoc in the workshop and run away. The third act is basically their wedding. It is, as I said, not a nice story, although at least in this production the couple were required to give money to Dr C as some form of compensation.
The production itself though was fine, with some lovely costumes and sets. I particularly liked the workshop with the automatons arranged around a darkened room. I think I saw the ‘B’ cast, as Sir John Trimmer (in the picture above) was not performing Dr Coppelius, and I would presume he would have done so in the ‘A’ cast. Swanhilda was danced by Mayu Tanigaito, who captured the right silliness of the character. She was partnered by Alexander Idaszek, and the always weak Clytie Campbell danced her best friend, Ima.
It was a nice production and the dancing was fine but it did nothing to convert me to the ballet itself. However, we had fantastic seats in the second row of the stalls right in the middle, which gave a great opportunity to watch the foot work and see the performance up close.
Photos from http://www.rnzb.org.nz
Thistles and Kiwis 