Queensland Ballet's Coppelia

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Fri 07 Jun 2024 - Sat 22 Jun 2024

A fun frolic combined with a poignant story of trauma and redemption.



Let’s face it - it is a favourite theme in folklore- the desire to make a doll or model into a real-life breathing human being; such is the precious nature of human existence that we understand why it could become an all-consuming passion.


This theme is amply explored in the wonderful crowd-pleasing ballet, Coppélia.

Former artistic director Li Cunxin chose to revisit Horseman’s Coppélia for the 2024 season, which was first performed in Brisbane in 2014 as a co-production between Queensland Ballet and West Australian Ballet.

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In Act 1 we see choreographer Greg Horseman’s storyline explained. Doctor Coppélius has lost his sweet daughter to illness while emigrating to Hahndorf, Australia, a small village settled by German Lutherans fleeing religious persecution. Horseman has beautifully structured the ballet to fit in with this modern Australian setting and has combined the comedic elements of the ballet with a reinterpretation of Dr Coppelius as a grief-stricken medical doctor rather than a diabolically driven reclusive scientist. It was a bold and sensationally successful move. The village characters in this context were credible, the inclusion of Australian footballers was an amusing play on ballet as an equal form of athleticism, and the doctor’s motivation to invent a replica of his lost daughter naturally draws pathos from the audience.



Staging, costuming and animation also successfully draw audience members into the plot. The doctor’s tragic journey to Australia is relayed by the brilliant use of a screened animation created by Pixel Frame and sensitively drawn by S.M. Olive. Set designer, Hugh Colman delved into the village culture and architecture of late 19th century Australia to create a quaint village in which Dr Coppelius settles as a recluse in a bleak tumble-down house. Noeline Hill, costume designer assiduously researched costumes for this period of Australian history, even getting the historically correct starched bands for the Lutheran minister’s robes. Set design, costuming and the vibrant soaring music of Delibes so capably performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Nigel Gaynor all coalesced to dramatic effect to support dancers in their performance.



On opening night we saw Dr Coppelius danced by Vito Bernasconi who used minimalist dance moves to convey an older man broken with grief. This aptly contrasted with other dancers on stage involved in the bustling day-to-day scenes of village life and some light-hearted village dancing. Some comedic character-dancing introduces the two main protagonists, Swanilda Hoffman (Chiara Gonzalez) and Franz Smit (Patricio Revé) as they dance out their complicated lovers’ tiffs. Up to the end of Act 1 the tone of the ballet is sweet and amusing bringing out laughter from the audience and engagement with the developing plot.



Act 11 introduces the famous doll-like ballet movements which morph slowly and convincingly into lithe human ballet forms. There is more slapstick humour as the youth intrepidly break into Dr Coppelius’ home only to discover his dour laboratory full of artificial limbs and models. In so doing, they realise the reason for Coppelia’s shyness, who they discover is a mannequin. Mayhem ensues as an angry vengeful Dr Coppelius returns and uses Franz’s “essence” to animate his Coppelia doll. More precision dancing becomes evident in this act, especially Chiara Gonzalez’s clever studied mannequin dancing. One unfortunate aspect of Act 11 for us was that the framing around the top and side of the stage obscured some of the action and drama from our seats which was necessary to fully appreciate the plot.



In Act 111, Horseman resolved the narrative and plotline of the original Coppelia production to great effect and made Act 111 unashamedly a showstopper. It has all the good feels with a change of heart and redemption for Dr Coppelius, there is a marriage proposal, plenty of joyous village dancing and many opportunities for soloists to showcase their talents.

The finale was danced with verve and self-evident enjoyment and generally throughout the performance. There were also roles for the Queensland Ballet Academy students to shine. A few standouts were, in particular, the powerful solo pieces by Patricio Reve in Act 111 and Chiara Gonzalez’s interpretation of two characters; Coppelia and Swanilda.



This ballet was very well received by the audience who laughed throughout and were charmed by its fairy tale qualities. So, if there are any spare tickets, make your way to QPAC, sit back and enjoy your evening.

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