Coppélia

Related Content

• Balanchine Then and Now
  March 21, 2012
• Opening Nights: Apollo and Carmina Burana at PNB
  April 18, 2012
• Rainbow Fletcher
  May 9, 2012
• Jacques d'Amboise
  March 30, 2011
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
  March 30, 2011

More About

• Sandra Kurtz
• Peter Boal
• Kaori Nakamura
• Dance
• Ballet

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Romanticism in ballet cuts two ways: There’s the tragedy of Giselle, where spurned women rise from the dead to haunt the living; then there’s the sunny world of Coppélia. On the surface, it’s a girl gets boy story, where spunky Swanilda (Kaori Nakamura) saves gormless Franz (Jonathan Porretta) from the machinations of the crackpot Dr. Coppelius (to be danced by PNB artistic director Peter Boal). But underneath is a whiff of darker stuff, where Coppelius plans to steal Franz’s life-force to animate a beautiful doll. It’s a combination of Frankenstein and Pygmalion. But the forces of good win out this time, all set to a glorious score by Léo Delibes and based on the 1974 choreography of George Balanchine. SANDRA KURTZ [Also see Sandra's review.]
June 3-13, 7:30 p.m., 2010