"Coppélia"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
March 19, 2011
by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano, 2011
In 1939 San Francisco Ballet took its first "Coppélia" (choreographed by Willam Christensen, with sister-in-law wife Ruby Asquith as Swanilda) to Seattle. Now the city has returned the favor. The Pacific Northwest Ballet's co-production with SFB of the 1974 Balanchine/Danilova version opened in Seattle last year. It blew in to San Francisco on one of the stormiest nights of the season; yet inside the Opera House the son shone, a few dark clouds not withstanding.
Two aspects of this beguiling ballet immediately drew attention. One was Balanchine's touch, from the textural refinement of the mazurka and the czardas, often such humdrum affairs, to the complex and richly varied patterns -- lots of port de bras -- for the 'Waltz of the Golden Hours' astonishingly capable "baby ballerinas". The incisive and yet feathery footwork, so deliciously appropriate to the music, for Dawn (a softly articulate Sarah Van Patten), Prayer (a magisterial though bland Sofian Sylve) and Spinner/Work (a spunky Clara Bianco) could only be Balanchine's. The precision-stepping quartet of Jesterettes (Dores Andre, Charlene Cohen, Sasha DeSola and Dana Genshaft) was his charming bow to "Coppélia's" travesty past.
As staged by Judith Fugate and Garielle Whittle (for the children's roles), this "Coppélia" exhibited a cohesiveness which only deepened as the ballet rolled along its merry way. Its boisterousness never stepped beyond decorum; somewhere Bournonville's presided.The ensemble numbers, the solos, duets and mime sequences all pushed the story along but they also functioned as another touch of color to this multi-hued portrait of a village society. What later would become peasant dances here were realized by refined town folks.The Burgomaster (Jeff Lyons) looked and acted like a genial patrician; the boys' teasing of Coppelius was presented as a relatively harmless prank. The pinning by Franz of the live butterfly to his chest was so underplayed that it almost disappeared.
Maria Kotchekova and Gennadi Nedvigin beautifully danced the title roles. Both artists excelled in clear and unhurried mime which only proves that audiences can read that much-neglected sign language. Kotchekova, spunky and temperamental with needle-sharp yet champagne-frothy footwork and chin that she thrust out like a weapon, probably could have showed a little more of her softness and vulnerability -- the part that makes her break into tears when she doesn't hear the rustle in the wheat stalk. But hers was a consistent scene-stealing interpretation and a delight to watch. Her and Coppelius' (Damian Smith's) timing int catchy-me-if-you-can routine could have been out of a Marx Brothers routine.
Nedvigin, who finally seems to receive the roles that he deserves, danced Franz as a happy-go-lucky heartthrob, none more so then when he found himself befuddled by Swanilda's running hot and cold. He is a superb, refined classicist whose soft smile says more than other dancers' more extroverted performances. The clarity and balancing of the cabrioles in the first act remain etched in the mind. He just may be the one closest to having the kind of stylistic purity which characterized Helgi Tomasson's -- who danced Franz in the 1974 premiere -- career.
Not unexpectedly Smith danced the hobbling, cantankerous Dr. Coppelius as a complex tinkerer who, more than anything, is lonely. Smith's talent and crafts grows in every role he tackles. The intensity with which his Copelius scooped Franz's life into his creation had a trembling anticipation and desperation about it. Squiring Swanilda/Coppélia around, and finally humbly kissing her hem, he was heart-breaking. "Coppélia's" one moment of real cruelty occurred when the Burgomaster swept the old man away with an imperious arm gesture. He would have spoiled the picture. Perhaps that why the Discord and War dance (led by Elana Altman and Hansuke Yamamoto), a rather over the top piece of Balanchine choreography, after all had a place in this "Coppélia."