Coppélia
Coppélia (sometimes subtitled: La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)[1]) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter. Nuitter's libretto and mise-en-scène was based upon E. T. A. Hoffmann's short story Der Sandmann (The Sandman). In Greek, κοπέλα (or κοπελιά in some dialects) means young woman. Coppélia premiered on 25 May 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra, with the 16-year-old Giuseppina Bozzacchi in the principal role of Swanhilda and ballerina Eugénie Fiocre playing the part of Frantz en travesti. The costumes were designed by Paul Lormier and Alfred Albert, the scenery by Charles-Antoine Cambon (Act I, scene 1; Act II, scene 1), and Édouard Desplechin and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (Act I, scene 2).
This article is about the ballet. For other uses, see Coppelia (disambiguation).Coppélia
25 May 1870
Théâtre Impérial l'Opéra, Paris
Doctor Coppélius
Swanhilda
Franz
The ballet's first flush of success was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of Paris (which also led to the early death of Giuseppina Bozzacchi, on her 17th birthday), but eventually it became the most-performed ballet at the Opéra.
Modern-day productions are traditionally derived from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg in the late 19th century. Petipa's choreography was documented in the Stepanov method of choreographic notation at the turn of the 20th century. These notations were later used to stage the St. Petersburg version for such companies as the Vic-Wells Ballet (precursor of today's Royal Ballet).
Influence and background[edit]
Doctor Coppelius is not unlike Hoffmann's sinister Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker or the macabre Svengali-like travelling magician of the same name in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.
The part of Franz was danced en travesti by Eugénie Fiocre, a convention that pleased the male members of the Jockey-Club de Paris and was retained in Paris until after World War II.[2]
The festive wedding-day divertissements in the village square that occupy Act III are often deleted in modern danced versions.
Some influence on this story comes from travelling shows of the late 18th and early 19th centuries starring mechanical automata.[3] This field of entertainment has been under-documented, but a recent survey of the field is contained in The Mechanical Turk by Tom Standage (2002).
Alternative versions[edit]
Opera Variant[edit]
A variation of the Coppélia story is contained in Jacques Offenbach's opera, The Tales of Hoffmann, a fictional work about the same Hoffmann who wrote the story that inspired Coppélia. The opera consists of a prologue, three fantastic tales in which Hoffmann is a participant, and an epilogue. In the first story, based on Der Sandmann, Hoffmann falls in love with a mechanical doll, Olympia, but in this case, the story has a melancholy tinge as the doll was destroyed by Dr. Coppelius, who share the same name as Coppelius who wants Coppélia to come to life, after he didn't get a check from Spalanzani for Olympia's eyes.
San Francisco Ballet[edit]
In 1939, San Francisco Ballet produced a version of Coppélia choreographed by Willam Christensen which was the first American complete version of the ballet. It starred Willam Christensen as Franz, Earl Riggins as Dr. Coppelius, and Janet Reed as Swanhilda and was an instant hit.
Balanchine[edit]
In 1974, George Balanchine choreographed a version of Coppélia for the New York City Ballet. He was assisted by Alexandra Danilova, who had performed the title role many times during her dancing career.[4] She staged the Petipa choreography for Act II. Balanchine created new choreography for Act III and for the mazurka, czardas and Franz's variation in Act I. Patricia McBride danced the role of Swanhilda the friendliest girl; Helgi Tomasson danced the role of Franz; Shaun O'Brian portrayed Dr. Coppélius. In Act III, Balanchine added 24 young girls to dance and be in the scene during Waltz of the Hours, Dawn (L'aurore), Prayer, and Work (Le travail) variations.
Second Life - LPBA[edit]
From 2011 the Little Princess Ballet Academy (LPBA) has performed Coppélia in Second Life. The adaptation follows the original in three acts, but the mime parts are problematic to perform in Second Life and has been changed, together with some changes in the sequences. All parts are played by individual avatars.[5][6]
Monte Carlo Ballet Company - Coppel-I-A[edit]
In 2019 Jean-Christophe Maillot created a modernized version of Coppélia for the Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, calling it Coppél-i-A.[7] In it, Coppelia is an android with artificial intelligence. The original music was rewritten by Maillot's brother Bertrand Maillot to suit the dystopian theme.[8]
Below is the résumé of scenes and dances taken from the theatre program of the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet. It is the Imperial Ballet's production as staged by Marius Petipa that serves as the basis for all modern-day productions.
Act I
Act II
Act III
La Fête de la cloche
Grand Pas de deux -
