Coppelia
Despite it all Ballet Chicago has managed to stage Coppelia, a genuinely entertaining romantic comedy first produced in 1870 and based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann (the same fellow who penned The Nutcracker). Coppelia is to ballet what A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Importance of Being Earnest is to theater: true love, fickle hearts, mistaken identities, and quick wit work their way into this charming story about a giant doll who seemingly comes to life and steals the heart of a young villager named Franz. Not only is Franz’s love blind, it’s fickle–he’s already offered his heart to Swanhilda, the village beauty. But as the story unfolds, she proves to be as clever as she is beautiful.
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Unfortunately, the other side of the love equation is lost. Franz is an equally complex character, but as Fu dances him he’s little more than wallpaper for Swanhilda’s passions. Still, this production is strong enough to support a couple of less than perfect performances. The corps contains a number of technically solid professional dancers (though their childish portrayals of the “friends” grow annoying), especially free-lancer Erin Carper in the Czardas and Gretchen Klocke in the Prayer.
