Coppelia

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: Having played the parts of both Coppelia and Swanilda, I wish to express HOW GREAT THIS BALLET IS!!! I think that this is the funniest and best version of Coppelia I have ever seen. Leanne Benjamin, Carlos Acosta, and Luke Heydon all deserved that long curtain call at the end. The orchestra, the dancing, the costumes were all beautiful. Also, the synopsis at the beginning of each Act made it easier to understand the storyline for even the youngest of my sisters. The only thing that made this 4 instead of 5 stars was the signs that they used to express their words. I knew what they meant because I have seen this ballet many times, but I know that a stranger to the story would NOT understand it at all.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: Having played the parts of both Coppelia and Swanilda, I wish to express HOW GREAT THIS BALLET IS!!! I think that this is the funniest and best version of Coppelia I have ever seen. Leanne Benjamin, Carlos Acosta, and Luke Heydon all deserved that long curtain call at the end. The orchestra, the dancing, the costumes were all beautiful. Also, the synopsis at the beginning of each Act made it easier to understand the storyline for even the youngest of my sisters. The only thing that made this 4 instead of 5 stars was the signs that they used to express their words. I knew what they meant because I have seen this ballet many times, but I know that a stranger to the story would NOT understand it at all.

Rating:
Summary: Royal Ballet's Coppelia
Review: The BBC televised and videotaped February 2000 performance of Ninette de Valois' Coppelia by the Royal Ballet is stunning. Osbert Lancaster's set and costume designs add to the visual appeal of this production. The principal dancers are outstanding, particularly Leanne Benjamin as Swanilda. She is a very fine technician; her footwork, leaps, and turns appear effortless and fluid. In Act I, she executes big kicks with flair, showing marvelous extension and height. Donning a mantilla near the end of Act II, she gives us a splashy bolero that culminates in a flurry of chaine turns; she then changes gears with fancy footwork in a Scottish jig. Ms. Benjamin is also an excellent dramatic mime: one moment pouty, the next jealous. Especially amusing in Act II, she mocks and teases old Dr. Coppelius as she pretends to be his creation, the beautiful Coppelia. Luke Heydon, Coppelius, demonstrates throughout how great a comic actor/dancer he is, but also arouses pathos in us when he falls under the spell of his gorgeous live-size mechanical doll he thinks he has brought to life. Franz, Carlos Acosta, partners Benjamin's Swanilda in the first two acts and solos only in Act III. There, he spins and jumps with seamless precision and grace. The corps de ballet, the folk dancers, and Swanilda's girlfriends all dance with verve and elegance. The mazurka and czardas are very pleasing to the eye. Delibes' luscious score, ably performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House under the direction of Nicolae Moldoveanu, has one captivating melody after another full of passion and poignancy. The DVD's superior picture quality brings out the vibrant colors of the costumes and set designs. The camera angles and editing are first rate. This DVD is superbly entertaining. It will please the sophisticated balletomane as well as the novice.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely, charming version of this cute ballet
Review: The storyline for Coppelia is so wafer-thin that it's a testament to Delibes lilting score and the delightful choreography that this ballet remains a staple of most ballet companies. Even George Balanchine choreographed his Coppelia. The story: Franz is engaged to a clever village girl Swanilda, but falls in love with a life-sized doll made by the eccentric Dr. Coppelius. Swanilda catches onto Franz's cheating ways and decides to teach her fiance a lesson.
This Royal Ballet production of Coppelia is delightful in almost every way. The choreography by Ninette de Valois (after Petipa) captures the small-village charms of this ballet. As the heroine Swanilda, Leanne Benjamin is more cute than memorable. She is graceful and has lovely extensions, and very beautiful soft arms. She is one of those ballerinas that's light on her feet and thus a pleasure to watch not only in the "big moments" but just standing on pointe. She's also an impressive kicker. But I'd personally like a Swanilda with more personality and spunk. Benjamin is cute, feminine, but she doesnt quite have that mischevious twinkle in her eye that I like to see.
Carlo Acosta, the Cuban ballet sensation, has a sunny, bright face and a boyish persona that's well-suited for Franz. I love his naivete and sweetness. Luke Heydon is Dr. Coppelius and the production wisely doesnt make Coppelius a sinister weirdo, just a lovable town eccentric.
The dvd helpfully has a nice synopsis before each act, and is filmed live so it is thankfully free of the cut-aways and edits that plague most studio ballet films.