Merry cavorting villagers turn up often in classical ballets, usually as the background setting to something more sombre involving princes and wraiths, and they are frequently, frankly, just a bit of a yawn.
But this Coppelia in its Kristian Fredrikson design, originally made for the Australian Ballet in 1979 and firmly rooted in picturesque village life, is as fresh, frothy and delicious as a newly made meringue, its youthful hijinks sitting perfectly with the RNZB’s lineup of new, young dancers.
So, it is Harvest Festival time in a vaguely Hungarian village when a new arrival, the beautiful and mysterious Coppelia, is spotted in town. Young love is very much in the air, and beautifully embodied by a gorgeously flirtatious Lucy Green as Swanhilda and the lyrical and lithe Kohei Iwamoto as her teasing fiancée-to-be Franz.
Duets and solos, quartets and octets are beautifully performed in a ravishing swirl of tutus in autumnal colours, from palest peach to blazing russet, with rustic jerkins and suede boots for the boys, Coppelia herself set apart in other-worldly pale blue. Willowy Katherine Grange and handsome Jacob Chown as Ima and Zoltan led out a picture-perfect lineup of the Friends on opening night at the Aotea, and the Czarda, a troupe of wild and sexy gypsy women, headed by the riveting Abigail Boyle, added spice.
There is also a chewy centre in RNZB choreographer Martin Vedel’s reading, starring of course the indomitable Sir Jon Trimmer as Dr Coppelius, on whose veranda the new girl sits to endlessly read, and who anchors the narrative with his usual aplomb. Vedel also adds a touch of tartness in the village boys’ roughing up of the old eccentric in their midst. And while the Swanhilda-led exploration of the Doctor’s premises is delightfully comic and Paul Matthews’ performance of Limbless in that strange laboratory is extraordinary, the Doctor’s stunning of Franz with a strong liquor in order to steal his life force and use it to enliven his beloved doll, is somewhat, well, dubious.
But it all adds substance to the sweetness, and makes an enchanting Coppelia with its lovely music both a story exceptionally well told and a great pleasure to see. Well done, RNZB.
What: Coppelia, with the Royal New Zealand Ballet
Where and when: Aotea Centre, to Sunday
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