New York City Ballet Coppélia Review
October 5, 2024 | David H. Koch Theater – New York, NY, USA
’Tis the season of dolls Uptown! New York City Ballet’s Coppélia and its neighborly doll friend Olympia from the Metropolitan Opera Les Contes D’Hoffmann are turning heads at Lincoln Center!
Next up, await The Nutcracker (of course) in line on display for the holidays.
Although City Ballet is known for its signature plotless dances, it delights me to see the company tell stories from time to time.
Coppélia, a comedic ballet in three acts, resembles a great page-turner – it is enchanting, thrilling, and leaves one wanting more… that is, until it didn’t.
New York City Ballet Coppélia Review
The opening act immediately transports me to the land of Galicia.
Swanilda, danced by Soloist Erica Pereira who trained at Ballet Academy East before The School of American Ballet (SAB), tour jetés into picturesque arabesques, commanding the scene with a fire in her belly. “The Friend’s Dance” demonstrates the bond of dancing sisterhood, and I can watch and rewatch the masterful second act until my heart explodes!
The first two acts are entertaining, full of mischief, and a choreographic dream for any versatile prima.
But to my dismay, the third act of today’s matinee performance left me feeling stuffed and unimpressed.
There were too many divertissements and the dancing not the best.
In 1974, forty years after they were lovers, Mr. George Balanchine and Madame Alexandra Danilova co-choreographed Coppélia to the fantastic music of the French composer Léo Delibes.
Long story short: Frantz (danced by Principal Dancer Chun Wai Chan) is a bumpkin who falls in love with a doll named Coppélia (performed by Apprentice Maya Milić) while blindly evoking jealousy within his girlfriend Swanilda. After the truth comes out, the pair beweds.
Madame Danilova’s love for Mr. Balanchine permeated the rehearsal room, as mentioned by some of the original cast in Roslyn Sulcas’ recently published The New York Times article. It was obvious that their bond (even as exes) is forever secured by this ballet.
But after seeing today’s disconnected acts, I’m not convinced that the collaboration lived up to its promise.
The program denotes that Act III “is totally Balanchine’s” and there is about a 20-minute lag between the divertissements and the final “Wedding Pas de Deux”. Previously, in Mauris Petipa’s version of the same ballet, there is less of a gap, at fifteen minutes tops.
Balanchine added a viking-like dance called “Discord and War” in the final act, its music borrowed from Sylvia (another score by Delibes). But the addition didn’t help; instead, it felt misplaced, so much so I thought I was no longer watching Coppélia!
As a result of this addition, the lead dancers have to wait even longer before they dance in the final scene, risking getting cold and perhaps contributing to more nerves kicking in.
As I thought, that is unfortunately exactly what happened during this performance.
At her wedding in Act III, I wish that bride Pereira had attacked her solos more and surrendered herself completely to Delibes’ entrancing score. For example, when she did her thirteen degagé on pointe into pas de bourrées across the diagonal, it would’ve been more exciting to see her play with the phrasing of each one differently, maybe musically stretch out just a hair longer before assemblé-ing into a tight sous sous.
But overall, she did outshine Chan.
When people go see ballets, they expect a male dancer to at least “twirl in the air”. In the final act, unfortunately, Chan’s legs gave out during a triple pirouette and he had to mark his double tour en l’air thereafter, failing to execute the turns and jumps fully. He danced more like a timid prince, not an eager countryman on his wedding day.
At this point, Delibes’ joyful music was keeping the joyous wedding scene alive. The sensational NYCB Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Litton, overpowers most of the dancing.
Chan, however, did make a comeback after his stumble and danced with more energy until he placed Pereira onto his right shoulder at the end.
On a more positive note, the 24 well-trained young ballerinas from SAB, not only boosted ticket sales but also helped spread some lightheartedness at the occasion.
The over the top extravaganza in the third act distracted me from following the continuation of an otherwise alluring story. It was all pretty good, until there was one divertissement too many. And this bothered me the most.
And with all due respect, I noticed Mr. Balanchine reused his successful narrative formula, generated from his all-too-familiar Nutcracker, for his Coppélia.
The Jesterettes (I enjoyed them the most) resembled the Candy Canes, the lead in Dedication of the Bells (India Bradley) giving a nod to his Dewdrop, the children essentially Polichinelles in pink tutus, and the Wedding Pas a swirl of that in The Sleeping Beauty and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.
In summary, the Act III was overstimulating, and not original enough.
Who knew that one additional divertissement could make or break a show? That extra time could’ve been given to Dr. Coppelius (Harrison Coll) or in celebrating Swanilda’s heroism for rescuing Frantz. Or perhaps just omitting “Discord and War” altogether. These alternatives would’ve tied a bigger bow at the end of what could’ve been – a perfect fairytale.
Featured Photo of New York City Ballet‘s Erica Pereira, Chun Wai Chan, and the Company in Coppélia, choreographed by George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova. Photo by Erin Baiano.
