''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) 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
''Mise-en-scène'' (; en, "placing on stage" or "what is put into the scene") is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, a ...
was based upon
E. T. A. Hoffmann's
short story ''
Der Sandmann
"The Sandman" ( German: ''Der Sandmann'') is a short story by . It was the first in an 1817 book of stories titled ''Die Nachtstücke'' (''The Night Pieces'').
Plot summary
The story is told by a narrator who claims to have known Lothar. It beg ...
'' (''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).
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
The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...
of
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
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).
Plot
Dr. Coppélius is a doctor who has made a life-size dancing doll. It is so lifelike that Franz, a village youth, becomes infatuated with it and sets aside his heart's true desire, Swanhilda. She shows him his folly by dressing as the doll, pretending to make it come to life and ultimately saving him from an untimely end at the hands of the inventor.
;Act I
The story begins during a town festival to celebrate the arrival of a new bell. The town crier announces that, when it arrives, anyone who becomes married will be awarded a special gift of money. Swanhilda and Franz plan to marry during the festival. However, Swanhilda becomes unhappy with Franz because he seems to be paying more attention to a girl named Coppélia, who sits motionless on the balcony of a nearby house. The house belongs to a mysterious and faintly diabolical inventor, Doctor Coppélius. Although Coppélia spends all of her time sitting motionless and reading, Franz is mesmerized by her beauty and is determined to attract her attention. Still upset with Franz, Swanhilda shakes an ear of wheat to her head: if it rattles, then she will know that Franz loves her. Upon doing this, however, she hears nothing. When she shakes it by Franz's head, he also hears nothing; but then he tells her that it rattles. However, she does not believe him and runs away heartbroken.
Later on, Dr. Coppelius leaves his house and is heckled by a group of boys. After shooing them away, he continues on without realizing that he has dropped his keys in the melée. Swanhilda finds the keys, which gives her the idea of learning more about Coppélia. She and her friends decide to enter Dr. Coppelius' house. Meanwhile, Franz develops his own plan to meet Coppélia, climbing a ladder to her balcony.
;Act II
Swanhilda and her friends find themselves in a large room filled with people. However, the occupants aren't moving. The girls discover that, rather than people, these are life-size mechanical dolls. They quickly wind them up and watch them move. Swanhilda also finds Coppélia behind a curtain and discovers that she, too, is a doll.
Dr. Coppelius returns home to find the girls. He becomes angry with them, not only for trespassing but for also disturbing his workroom. He kicks them out and begins cleaning up the mess. However, upon noticing Franz at the window, Coppélius invites him in. The inventor wants to bring Coppélia to life but, to do that, he needs a human sacrifice. With a magic spell, he will take Franz's spirit and transfer it to Coppélia. After Dr. Coppelius proffers him some wine laced with sleeping powder, Franz begins to fall asleep. The inventor then readies his magic spell.
However, Dr. Coppelius did not expel all the girls: Swanhilda is still there, hidden behind a curtain. She dresses up in Coppélia's clothes and pretends that the doll has come to life. She wakes Franz and then winds up all the mechanical dolls to aid their escape. Dr. Coppelius becomes confused and then saddened when he finds a lifeless Coppélia behind the curtain.
;Act III
Swanhilda and Franz are about to make their wedding vows when the angry Dr. Coppelius appears, claiming damages. Dismayed at having caused such an upset, Swanhilda offers Dr. Coppelius her dowry in return for his forgiveness. However, Franz tells Swanhilda to keep her dowry and offers to pay Dr. Coppelius instead. At that point, the mayor intervenes and gives Dr. Coppelius a bag of money, which placates him. Swanhilda and Franz are married and the entire town celebrates by dancing.
(Note: In some Russian versions of the ballet, after getting caught, Swanhilda confesses to Dr. Coppelius about what she and her friends did and her situation with Franz. Coppelius decides to forgive Swanhilda and teach her how to act like a doll coming to life to fool Franz, thus ending Act 2 on a happier note.)
Influence and background
Doctor Coppelius is not unlike Hoffmann's sinister Herr Drosselmeyer in ''
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...
'' or the macabre
Svengali
Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer.
Definition
...
-like travelling magician of the same name in
Offenbach's ''
The Tales of Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died i ...
''.
The part of Franz was danced ''
en travesti'' by
Eugénie Fiocre, a convention that pleased the male members of the
Jockey-Club de Paris
The Jockey Club de Paris is a traditional gentlemen's club and is regarded as the most prestigious of private clubs in Paris. It is best remembered as a gathering place of the elite of nineteenth-century French society. Today it is decidedly but ...
and was retained in Paris until after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
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
An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...
. This field of entertainment has been under-documented, but a recent survey of the field is contained in ''
The Mechanical Turk'' by
Tom Standage
Tom Standage (born 1969) is a British journalist, author, and editorial executive currently working as the Deputy Editor of ''The Economist'' newspaper under editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes. As head of the newspaper's digital strategy, St ...
(2002).
Alternative versions
Opera Variant
A variation of the ''Coppélia'' story is contained in
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...
's opera, ''
The Tales of Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died i ...
'', 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
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
In 1974,
George Balanchine choreographed a version of ''Coppélia'' for the
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
. He was assisted by
Alexandra Danilova
Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova (''Russian'': Александра Дионисьевна Данилова; November 20, 1903 – July 13, 1997) was a Russian-born prima ballerina, who became an American citizen. In 1989, she was recognized f ...
, who had performed the title role many times during her dancing career.
[ 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
Patricia McBride (born August 23, 1942 in Teaneck, New Jersey) is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet. McBride joined the New York City Ballet in 1959. She became a principal in 1961, becoming the company's ...
danced the role of Swanhilda the friendliest girl; Helgi Tomasson danced the role of Franz; Shaun O'Brian portrayed Dr. Coppélius.
Second Life - LPBA
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.
Monte Carlo Ballet Company - Coppel-I-A
In 2019 Jean-Christophe Maillot created a modernized version of ''Coppélia'' for th
Monte Carlo Ballet Company
','' calling it ''Coppél-i-A''. 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.
Coppelia - feature film
A family feature film
Coppelia
was released in 2021, directed and written by Jeff Tudor, Steven De Beul and Ben Tesseur. The film has no dialogue and mixes live action dance with animation. It was inspired by choreographer Ted Brandsen's 2008 production created for Dutch National Ballet. In Brandsen's production, and in the film, Doctor Coppelius is updated from toymaker to cosmetic surgeon and Coppelia is a robot. The movie deals with issues such as the pressures of social media, the lure of superficial beauty and the importance of being yourself. The film stars ballerina, author and activist Michaela DePrince
Michaela Mabinty DePrince (born Mabinty Bangura, 6 January 1995) is a Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer, currently dancing with the Boston Ballet. She rose to fame after starring in the documentary ''First Position'' in 2011, following her an ...
, Daniel Camargo
Daniel Camargo (born September 1991) is a Brazilian ballet dancer. He joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 2009, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2013. In 2016, he left to join the Dutch National Ballet, before leaving in 2019 to pursue a free ...
, Vito Mazzeo, Darcey Bussell
Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest ''Strictly Come Dancing''.
Trained at the Arts Educational Sc ...
, Irek Mukahmedov, Sasha Mukahmedov, Jan Kooijman, Igone de Jongh and artists of Dutch National Ballet. Composer Maurizio Malagnini wrote the original score. The movie premiered at Annecy Festival 2021 and won the Golden Punt for Best Fiction Feature at the 40th Cambridge Film Festival
The Cambridge Film Festival is the third-longest-running film festival in the UK. The festival historically took place during early July, but now takes place annually during Autumn in Cambridge. It is organised by the registered charity Cambri ...
.
Ballet
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
*no. 01 ''Prélude et Mazurka''
*no. 02 ''Valse et jalousie''
*no. 03 ''Scène''
*no. 04 ''Mazurka
*no. 05 ''Scène''
*no. 06 ''Ballade de l'Épi''
*no. 07 ''Thème slave varié''
*no. 08 ''Csárdás''
*no. 09 ''Finale''
Act II
*no. 10 ''Introduction et scène''
*no. 11 ''Jeux avec les automates''
*no. 12 ''Scène à boire: Franz et Dr. Coppélius''
*no. 13 ''Scène et danse de la Poupée''
*no. 14 ''L'espièglerie de Swanhilde''
*no. 15 ''Boléro: Danse espagnol''
*no. 16 ''Gigue: Danse écossaise''
*no. 17 ''Scène finale''
Act III
*no. 18 ''Marche de la cloche''
''Fête de la cloche''
**no. 19 ''Valse des heures''
**no. 20 ''Variation: "L'aurore"''
**no. 21 ''Variation: "La prière"''
**no. 22 ''"Le travail"''
**no. 23 ''"L'hymen—Noce villageoise"''
**no. 24 ''"La discorde et la guerre"'' (this number was omitted from Imperial-era performances and as such is often absent from many modern-day productions)
''Grand Pas de deux -''
**no. 25 ''Grand adage: "La paix"''
**supplement - ''Variation pour le début de Léontine Beaugrand'' (music: Léo Delibes; 1872)
**supplement - ''Variation: "Danse du marié"'', ca. 1875 (music: Ernest Guiraud)
**supplement - ''Variation pour Mlle. Dionesiia Potapenko: "Travail"'', 1904 (music: Léo Delibes, from the ballet ''Sylvia'')
**no. 26 ''Variation: "Danse de Fête"''
**no. 27 ''Finale: Galop générale''
Scoring
: Harp
: Strings
: Woodwinds
::2 flutes
:::(2nd doubling on piccolo)
::2 oboes
:::(2nd doubling on English horn)
::2 clarinets
::2 bassoons
:Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
::4 horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
::2 valved cornets
::2 trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s
::3 trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
s
::tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...
: Percussion (2 players)
::Timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...
:: triangle
::cymbals
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
::drum
:: bass drum with cymbals
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
:: glockenspiel
Popular culture
''Coppélia'' was featured in the Danish film ''Ballerina
A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...
'', shown in two parts in the U.S. on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color in 1966 and later released theatrically in Europe. Dancer Kirsten Simone played the lead. A version is included in the revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...
'' Wake Up and Dream''. It was performed by
"Coppélia's Casket" ("Kopperia no Hitsugi"), sung by the Japanese duo Ali Project
Ali Project (typeset as ALI PROJECT) is a Japanese rock band with a strong Japanese Aristocrat-style image, consisting of and .
In the band's earlier days, their musical style tended towards light, cheerful and/or refreshing songs. However, ...
, (Arika Takarano and Katakura Mikiya) is the title of the introductory song of Japanese anime '' Noir'', the story of two killers. "Coppélia's Casket" contains several references to the story of Coppélia, such as "People are tired of dancing dolls."
A manga (2008-2016) and anime (2013) series ''Coppelion
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomonori Inoue. The story follows three high school girls who were genetically engineered to be impervious to radioactivity and sent to Tokyo after the city was contaminated by a nuclear ...
'' is named after the dancing doll.
A movie, ''The Fantastic World of Dr. Coppelius'' / ''El fantástico mundo del doctor Coppelius,'' released on 25 December 1968, In the U.S., was titled '' Dr. Coppelius''. The Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
production, with the ballet company and orchestra of the Gran Teatro del Liceo of Barcelona, features Walter Slezak
Walter Slezak (; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood producti ...
as Dr. Coppelius and Claudia Corday in the doll-comes-to-life role, Swanhilda / Coppelia.New York Times Review
/ref>
A scene from the famous ballet film '' The Red Shoes'' shows Moira Shearer playing the fictional Victoria Page. Vicky is seen as Swanhilda in the scene in which she pretends to be Coppelia, and fools even Dr. Coppelius.
The ballet ''Coppélia'' and Giuseppina Bozzacchi's tragic fate are narrated in the novel ''No Telling'' (London: Vintage, 2004) by British author Adam Thorpe (*1956).
The second season of the anime series ''Princess Tutu
is a Japanese magical girl anime series created by illustrator and animator Ikuko Itoh. Inspired by ballet and fairy tales, particularly '' The Ugly Duckling'' and ''Swan Lake'', the story follows a duck who is transformed into the mythical ...
'' (2002-2003), makes many references to ''Coppélia'', beginning with episode 15, "Kapitel des Junges: Coppelia". where one of the main characters begins trying to obtain a "pure heart" as a sacrifice to revive a monster Raven. The character Princess Tutu puts a stop to this by reminding the potential sacrifices that they really do not want to give up their hearts, in one instance stating that Swanhilda, though she pretended to be a doll, wanted to be able to laugh and cry as a real human with her fiancé.
The '' Star Trek: Picard'' season one finale episodes, "Et in Arcadio Ego, Part I" and "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part II" feature a planet named Coppelius, the adoptive homeworld of a group of highly evolved synthetic lifeforms akin to the lifelike dolls fashioned in ''Coppélia''.
A family feature film
Coppelia
was released in 2021. Directed and written by Jeff Tudor, Steven De Beul and Ben Tesseur, the film mixes live action dance with animation. It was inspired by Ted Brandsen's 2008 production created for Dutch National Ballet, which updates Doctor Coppelius from toymaker to cosmetic surgeon. The film stars ballerina, author and activist Michaela DePrince
Michaela Mabinty DePrince (born Mabinty Bangura, 6 January 1995) is a Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer, currently dancing with the Boston Ballet. She rose to fame after starring in the documentary ''First Position'' in 2011, following her an ...
, Daniel Camargo, Vito Mazzeo, Darcey Bussell
Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest ''Strictly Come Dancing''.
Trained at the Arts Educational Sc ...
, Irek Mukahmedov, Sasha Mukahmedov, Jan Kooijman, Igone de Jongh and artists of Dutch National Ballet. The movie premiered at Annecy Festival 2021 and won the Golden Punt for Best Fiction Feature at the 40th Cambridge Film Festival
The Cambridge Film Festival is the third-longest-running film festival in the UK. The festival historically took place during early July, but now takes place annually during Autumn in Cambridge. It is organised by the registered charity Cambri ...
.
Notes
External links
*
*Visual evidence of the premiere and subsequent Parisian productions o
Gallica
Long Beach Ballet
Michigan Ballet Theatre
Swanhilde costume
''Coppelia movie''
(2021)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppelia
Ballets by Marius Petipa
Ballets by Léo Delibes
1870 ballet premieres
Ballets by Charles Nuitter
1870 compositions
Ballets by George Balanchine
Ballets premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet
Works based on The Sandman (short story)