Coppelia

Birmingham Royal Ballet

Bristol Hippodrome, until July 1

COPPELIA is a lighthearted, delightful feel-good ballet, full of humour and a bit of slapstick; the story is easy to follow, unlike some of the more formal ballets. This production has beautiful backdrops, sumptuous costumes and stunning dance.

We were impressed with the arabesques, seemingly held endlessly, the pas de bouree en couru, where the dancer's feet moved so fast that she appeared to be gliding across the stage, and Swanilda's fouettés (although not quite as impressive as the 32 consecutive ones performed in Swan Lake).

Celine Gitten sparkled as the mischievous Swanilda, a role which requires acting/mime skills as well as dance, Michael O'Hare was a delight as the dotty Dr Coppelius, but my favourite was Tyrone Singleton as Franz, whose athletic and powerful leaps, quadruple pirouettes and entrechats (too fast to count) left us gasping.

The ballet begins in the village square when we see a beautiful girl sitting on the balcony of the eccentric Dr Coppelia's house. Swanilda tries to make friends with the girl, but gets angry when she is totally ignored, then she gets jealous when her fiancé Franz starts flirting with her.

Meanwhile, it is announced that the duke is going to be hosting a festival to commemorate the new bell that he has installed in the church. Merriment ensues and the villagers dance the mazurka, an Eastern European folk dance, fast and energetic with lots of whirling, stamping and heel clicking. This was the highlight for my daughter, as she performed a very similar dance recently for her grade 8 ballet exam. After everyone has gone, Swanilda and her friends decide to enter Dr Coppelius' house to find the mysterious girl. So does Franz, who is besotted, creeping across the stage, complete with a long ladder and a cheeky grin.

They nervously enter the doctor's workshop and discover a number of dolls, and that the girl is actually a life-sized mechanical doll. Doctor Coppelius suddenly returns and shoos the girls out, apart from Swanilda, who hides. When he discovers Franz, Coppelius drugs him and, with the help of a book of spells, he tries to use Franz's spirit to bring the doll to life. Meanwhile, unbeknown to Coppelius, Swanilda has swapped places with the doll, which begins to dance, firstly in a mechanical fashion, then more fluidly, in the style of first the Spanish doll and the Scottish doll. Finally, the truth is revealed, Coppelius realises he has been tricked and Swanilda and Franz are reunited.

Act 3 is the grand finale, a divertissement - basically a showcase of dances which illustrate uses of the new bell, such as Dance of the Hours, Dawn, Prayer, Work, Betrothal, the spectacular Call to Arms, danced by the male dancers and Peace, in which we see Swanilda and Franz express their true love in a wonderful pas de deux.

Final credit must go to the orchestra, who were superb and rightfully took a bow as the audience cheered. The Birmingham Royal Ballet's production of Coppelia is a real treat and I could quite happily watch it all over again.

SUE COCKREM