This faithful and lovely rendition of the classic ballet (Coppelia was first performed in 1870 and much of the original Arthur Saint-Leon choreography remains intact) is told in three colorful acts, and though a fair amount of pantomime-based storytelling is required, this show is pleasantly filled with exuberant, joyous dancing.
The story of Coppélia concerns a mysterious and faintly diabolical inventor, Doctor Coppélius[1] who has made a life-size dancing doll. It is so lifelike that Frantz, a village swain, is infatuated with it, and sets aside his true heart's desire, Swanhilde, who in Act II shows him his folly by dressing as the doll and pretending to come to life. The festive wedding-day divertissements in the village square that occupy Act III are often deleted in modern danced versions, though one of the entrées was the first czardas presented on a ballet stage. If Mary Shelley's Frankenstein represents the dark side of the theme of scientist as creator of life, then Coppelia is the light side.
In the anime Princess Tutu, episode 15 is entitled Coppelia . Within the episode, the ballet is referenced when the character Pique/Pike is hypnotized in Mythos's presence and begins dancing the puppet-like Waltz of the Dolls from Coppélia as the corresponding song plays in the background. Additionally, the clock tower shown throughout the show plays the beginning of Waltz of the Hours when it tolls the hour, and the hand organ of the character Edel plays a modified version of Music of the Automatica (the original plays in the show as well). A stage adaptation of Coppelia was presented at the Gene Frankel Theater in 1999.
History Coppelia is an adaptation of m"The Sandman,d" a story written by the German Romanticist, E.T.A. Hoffman, almost 200 years ago. The ballet, with music by Leo Delibes, first performed over 100 years ago in Paris, was choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon, ballet master of the Paris Opera at the time.
