Coppelia -- Streaming Starts May 6 (Thursday), Available through May 10 (Monday)

[Helene]

PNB posted to Facebook that the Rep 5 Coppelia, a co-production with San Francisco Ballet, would feature Leta Biasucci as Swanhilde:

https://www.facebook.com/PNBallet/posts/10158594152798952

I'll post the press release, which may have more casting info, as soon as I get it.  (Or, by then, the website might have more casting info.)

Subscribers get digital access, and single tickets can be purchased for $39 with bonus content or $29.

The PNB blog has Coppelia-specific content from prior performance years, including "Coppelia: Then and Now" from Cecilia Iliesiu, who had been one of the Dance of the Hours students when she was at SAB.  If you scroll down, you'll see a photo of Leslie Rausch as Swanhilde, and, to the right, Biasucci as one of her friends, plus some retired corps members, like Jessika Anspach.

https://blogpnborg.wordpress.com/tag/coppelia/

 

 

[seattle_dancer]

PNB posted on Instagram that Benjamin Griffiths will dance opposite Leta Biasucci in the role of Franz.  I’m so happy I was hoping to see this cast I’ve missed this partnership so much!  And with his retirement announced last season we didn’t get to see too much of Ben before he left PNB, so I’m perfectly happy to see an archived performance of Coppelia from 2016.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNsexTEAVYp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[sandik]

Agree wholeheartedly -- this pandemical time has taken so many opportunities away from performers and audience alike, but archival screenings like this are a chance to see folks who have left the company one last time.

 

[Helene]

Here's the press release; scroll for online viewing ticket info:

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET CONTINUES ITS 20/21 ALL-DIGITAL SEASON WITH A COMICAL CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY!

May 6 – 10, 2021

Dance Happens Everywhere:

Filmed live onstage at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center.

Viewable in the comfort and safety of your own home.

 SEATTLE, WA –Spring is finally here, and Pacific Northwest Ballet is happy to present the happiest ballet on earth, George Balanchine’s Coppélia, as the penultimate program in its Dance Happens Everywhere digital season. Audiences at McCaw Hall were mesmerized when PNB premiered its exquisite, wisteria-hued production of Coppélia in 2010: “The audience actually gasped when the curtain went up” (Journal Newspapers). Originally created in 1870, Balanchine and famous ballerina Alexandra Danilova drew on source material and memory for 1974's New York City Ballet version. The story, set to Léo Delibes' superbly melodic score, is a lighthearted comedy about vivacious young Swanilda, her impetuous suitor Franz, and the eccentric toymaker Dr. Coppelius. Though Franz loves Swanilda, he is swept away by Coppélia, a life-sized doll whom he believes is real. When Swanilda steals into Dr. Coppelius' workshop and discovers the truth about Coppélia, she dresses up as her rival and amuses herself by tricking both toymaker and her lover. All ends well in the final act’s splendid wedding festivities, enhanced by the addition of 24 “baby” ballerinas who frame ensemble and solo variations. Beautifully detailed by designer Roberta Guidi di Bagno's lavish sets and costumes, this production is a delight for all ages. “Coppélia...demands repeat viewing” (criticaldance.com). 

Coppélia is streamable for five days, May 6 through 10. Tickets are $29, and $39 for Digital Performance Plus. The latter provides access to additional bonus content, including a performance of Kyle Davis’s Sylvia Pas de Deux. (See “Ticket Information,” below.) For tickets and additional information, contact the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424 or online at PNB.org.

OUT THE PRODUCTIO 

Music: Léo Delibes (Coppélia, ou la Fille aux Yeux d’Émail, 1869-1870; with excerpts from Sylvia, ou la Nymphe de Diane, 1876, and La Source [Naïla], 1866)
Book: Charles Nuitter, after E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann, 1815
Choreography: Alexandra Danilova and George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust (after Marius Petipa)
Staging: Judith Fugate and Garielle Whittle
Scenic and Costume Design: Roberta Guidi di Bagno
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

Original Production Premiere: May 25, 1870; Paris Opera Ballet, choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon
Petipa Producton Premiere: November 25, 1884, Imperial Ballet, St. Petersburg, choreography by Marius Petipa (after Arthur Saint-Léon); revised 1894 by Enrico Cecchetti
Balanchine Production Premiere: July 17, 1974; New York City Ballet (Saratoga Springs, New York)
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: June 3, 2010

Digital Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes

Casting:  PNB’s digital performance of Coppélia is an archival recording from April 14, 2016. Select casting includes:

Swanilda:          Leta Biasucci

Franz:               Benjamin Griffiths

Dr. Coppelius:  Ryan Cardea

Based on the book by Charles Nuitter, after E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann, Coppélia is considered one of the triumphant comic ballets of the 19th century and marked the passing of ballet supremacy from France to Russia. Originally choreographed by Arthur St. Léon in Paris in 1870, it was restaged by Marius Petipa in St. Petersburg in 1884 and revised by Enrico Cecchetti in 1894. Little, if any, of St. Léon’s choreography remains in today’s production, although Acts I and II retain his ideas and the story of mischievous young lovers. Balanchine provided entirely new choreography for Act III.

Balanchine wrote, “In 1974, I decided we should stage Coppélia at the New York City Ballet and asked the ballerina and teacher Alexandra Danilova, celebrated for many years for her Swanilda, to collaborate with me on the choreography. I remember very well performances by the Russian Imperial Ballet of Coppélia and as a member of the company danced in the mazurka.

“I have often said that Delibes is one of my favorite composers for dance. In our new Coppélia, we used the entire score of the three-act version. The first dance drama of really uniform excellence deserves no less! No part of the ballet is subordinate to any other; most important of all, ballet music in Coppélia participates in the dance drama as never before, Delibes’ charming, melodic music assisting the plot and unifying the music and dance. Tchaikovsky was directly inspired by Delibes’ score to write his own ballet music. Delibes is the first great ballet composer; Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky are his successors.” [Program Notes by Doug Fullington.]

 

TICKET INFORMATION and BONUS CONTENT

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s digital presentation of Coppélia runs for five days, May 6 – 10. Tickets to Coppélia ($29 - $39) and the rest of PNB’s digital season may be purchased through the PNB Box Office, 206.441.2424 or online 24/7 at PNB.org 

Ticket-buyers will receive an email prior to the program with a link and password, as well as helpful information to assist in viewing the digital content. Coppélia and bonus content will be available for a five-day viewing window beginning at 10am (Pacific) on Thursday, May 6. Digital content can only be viewed during the allotted time period; No extensions or exceptions will be granted. For additional information, please contact the PNB Box Office. 

All patrons of PNB’s basic Digital Performance ($29) will also receive, in addition to the performance of Coppélia:

·         Five Minute Call – A peek backstage at the artists, musicians, and crew preparing for the performances.

·         Ballet Talk – Doug Fullington’s informative introduction to the performance, discussing choreography, music, history, and design.

·         Meet the Artist – Peter Boal with company dancers in a lively conversation about the work. 

Season subscribers and patrons of the Digital Performance Plus ($39) will receive access to a performance of Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan and Kyle Davis in Davis’s Sylvia Pas de Deux, and additional content to be announced.

Coppélia Mother’s Day Tasting Event with TeaLeaves and Fran’s Chocolates

On May 8, in celebration of Mother’s Day, sommeliers from TEALEAVES & Fran’s Chocolates along with special guests from PNB are hosting an event which will lead attendees through a virtual tasting of hand-crafted teas and chocolates, paired with some enchanting story-telling. Guests will delight in a curated assortment of truffles and caramels, expertly paired with a series of custom-blended teas, and a guest from PNB will share behind-the-scenes stories about the ballet. Before or after the event, guests can “hit play” to watch the digital performance of Coppélia, through an exclusive event link. The 60-minute family-friendly event takes place from 2:00 – 3:00 pm PST on Saturday, May 8. Pre-order sales for this special event package are available at Frans.com.

 

[Helene]

More casting info, this time three of the four Act III soloists, retired dancers Margaret Mullin (Dance of the Golden Hours, originally Marnee Morris), Sarah Ricard Orza (Dawn, originally Merrill Ashley), and Kylee Kitchens (Prayer, originally Christine Redpath):

https://www.facebook.com/PNBallet/posts/10158634639568952