On 25, 26, 27 and 28 (at 12:00 and 19:00) July the Mariinsky Theatre’s New Stage will present the largest and final ballet premiere of this season – the comic Coppélia in Alexander Sergeev’s choreography. Arseny Shuplyakov will conduct all performances.
Coppélia is one of the most popular ballets in the world repertoire. Its story began in 1870 with the world premiere of the work at the Paris Opera. The initiator of the creation and first director of Coppélia was one of the leading ballet masters of the time, Arthur Saint-Léon. He also co-authored the libretto – together with Charles Nuitter, a well-known French writer, they adapted the plot of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s novella The Sandman, transforming the sinister story of the mystic writer into a light, enchanting, and witty comedy. Coppélia was a resounding success, but it was destined to be Saint-Léon’s last work – the ballet master died a few months after the premiere.
Coppélia began its triumphant journey across the world’s stages: France, the USA, Hungary, England, Denmark. In Russia this ballet was first presented in January 1882 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The St Petersburg premiere took place almost three years later – on 25 November 1884 the ballet was shown at the Bolshoi (Stone) Theatre, the predecessor of the Mariinsky, in Marius Petipa’s choreography. Subsequently this production became one of the most famous stagings of Coppélia.
The upcoming premiere is Alexander Sergeev’s original version. The new Coppélia is intended to be a family performance – engaging and understandable for children, yet intriguing for adults. The artists will have to showcase their comedic talent in pantomime scenes and virtuosity in choreographic ones: true to his style, Alexander Sergeev is preparing complex variations, duets and crowd scenes with very rich, dense dance text.
Like the composer, who vividly presented the characters through musical leitmotifs, the choreographer uses plastic means to draw a line between two worlds. “In our production all the characters from the world of dolls – and first and foremost Coppélia – are not mechanical robots, as we are used to. On the contrary, they are very plastic – so much so that it is impossible and unnatural for humans. It will be neoclassical choreography. But Franz, Swanilda, their friends, that is, the characters belonging to the human world, are solved by the technique of classical dance,” said Alexander Sergeev.
At the same time Coppelius in the new production is not an elderly doll maker but a young, handsome, “with negative charm”, as the choreographer himself put it, puppeteer, a guide between two worlds. That is why his part combines features of classical and neoclassical choreography.
Instead of magic, the performance features technological wonders. All the magical phenomena in the plot are actually the fruit of the ingenious Coppelius’ design work, including a special machine for transplanting souls.
The character dances in the new Coppélia deserve special attention. Following the composer, who emphasised the national flavour with folklore motifs, Alexander Sergeev goes beyond the salon dances inherent in classical performances.
Leonid Alexeev, already known to the Mariinsky audience, is the set and costume designer. He created a colourful design in the spirit of the mid-20th century. The directors moved the setting to an imaginary, fantasy city but with a bright “retro-” prefix. Konstantin Binkin is the lighting designer, and Igor Domashkevich is the video designer.
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