'Coppelia' at The Royal Ballet

As I sit here, in lockdown and on furlough from my day job, I find myself in a pretty reflective mood. For some, this is a time to spend more precious moments with their children; for others, it’s a time to put the work laptop away and do some long-awaited DIY. For me, I’m thinking back to some of the wonderful performances that I was lucky enough to see at The Royal Ballet before we all went into lockdown. I live in a flat in a converted house and there isn’t much sound-proofing. So whilst my neighbours blast their music, or bang the floor during their Joe Wicks sessions, I’m sitting here, Delibes on Spotify, thinking back to when Coppelia returned to The Royal Opera House stage. After over a decade’s absence (what was that about?), my childhood favourite ballet was back. Sure, it’s a ridiculous story and sure it’s three acts of silliness, but it’s utterly charming and putting it on over the Christmas period was a welcome break from the annual Nutcracker shows. You also can’t beat the music, with Delibes’ score providing some of the most memorable ballet music in the repertoire. Swanilda’s entrance, for example, done to death by many ballerinas at the Prix de Lausanne, is danced to a beautiful piece of music that you will often hear on Classic FM.

There is quite a lot of choreography in this ballet that I’m not mad on and there are a fair few dances where I get a bit fidgety. These moments mainly fall towards the end of the ballet, and I think much of my dislike for them is due to finding them tiresome when I was a child. I would fast-forward the ‘Prayer’ and ‘Aurora’ solos and then skip through all of the corn-cutting and betrothal dances. I’m all grown up now so I appreciate these dances more, but after a couple of viewings of this ballet, I did find myself trying to reach for the imaginary remote to fast forward some of it. I also find the choreography in the wedding pas de deux slightly laboured. When I think of the other “fun” ballets that have a really special final pas de deux, such as Don Quixote or La Fille mal gardee, I don’t think we can really compare with what we have at the end of Coppelia.

However, and it’s a big however, this is a real jewel of a ballet and one we need to see more often. The best thing about it is that it really shows off the corps de ballet in the best way and it also gives whoever is dancing Swanilda, Franz and Dr Coppelius a wonderful opportunity to really have some fun on stage. I think it’s one of those ballets where, if it has a magical trio in those roles, you’re going to love every minute. I was fortunate enough to see some truly wonderful casts but there was one performance that really stood out for me and that was when Anna-Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe took to the stage as Swanilda and Franz. The previous year they had danced in Romeo and Juliet together and just a few months later, once all of our eyes finally dried after such an emotional performance, they were back in each others’ arms to give us some much needed comedy. O’Sullivan has gone from strength to strength over the past year. Since making her debut as Juliet, she then wowed audiences with her take on Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty and made yet another debut as Olga in Onegin. She’s certainly on the right path to Principal status and her blossoming partnership with Sambe is something to really get excited about. They seem to just fit perfectly with each other and this isn’t something that you see too often. It helps that they clearly adore each other off stage too, but on stage they share the kind of chemistry that makes them perfect for playing the part of a romantic couple. As Swanilda, O’Sullivan was, in my eyes, perfect. She was light, fun and mischievous and just shone to the audience. She’s also incredibly real on stage, similarly to Francesca Hayward. You can’t really tell she’s acting, there’s nothing over the top going on, and it all seems like she isn’t trying to be anyone else. She is the character. It’s all incredibly effortless to watch and for such a contrived ballet as Coppelia, it was even more impressive. A regular ballet watcher who I was standing next to told me that her Act Two was the best he has ever seen – and he’s seen them all. Sambe was equally joyous and full of life. He possesses so much personality on stage and you really can’t take your eyes off him. And that technique! He makes even the most miserable audience member applaud like mad. What I am now loving about watching him is that, since his debut as Romeo, I’ve started to see him in a different light. Before, I found him a perfect supporting actor type of dancer. Wonderful as Mercutio and the other cheeky fire-cracker roles, but now, he has become a leading man who can do tragedy and passion. Dancing in something lighter, like Coppelia, shows how much he loves being on stage. The way he interacts with the corps and jokes with them on stage proves how comfortable he his. Not many dancers have such a confident approach.

Philip Mosley performed a heart-warming Dr Coppelius alongside Sambe and O’Sullivan and counter-balanced their cheekiness well. I grew up watching different versions of Coppelia on video, one of the most memorable being from Birmingham Royal Ballet. I think John Auld was Dr Coppelius and he gave the most heart-wrenching interpretation. In the current version of Coppelia at The Royal Ballet, everything ends with a song and a dance and Dr Coppelius is content with his bag of coins and bottle of wine. In BRB’s version, however, the stage empties and the real Coppelia comes to life, much to the surprise of the bewildered Dr Coppelius, and although they skip off happily together, I always found this ending really upsetting! I think it was that she finally came to life when no-one else was there to see it, and Auld’s interpretation throughout the whole ballet had you really pining for him. That depth isn’t really anywhere to be found in The Royal Ballet version, but to be honest, for a ballet put on at Christmas, who really wants tears? We get enough of those on Christmas Day when the turkey’s too dry and Aunt Kim spontaneously shows up unannounced. Elsewhere in this production, there is more to love. The costumes are really playful, with bold colours and patterns enhancing the stylised aesthetic of the ballet. The corps are, as usual, a delight to watch, and really have fun on stage. Sure this isn’t Hamlet, but who needs him when you just want a couple of hours of light entertainment? My only qualm about this ballet is that we haven’t seen it for over ten years. It’s a lovely production and deserves more air-time in The Royal Ballet’s repertoire.