A world where movement and music speak louder than words.
This Live From Lincoln Center rebroadcast from 1978 features the ballet’s original leading dancers Patricia McBride, Helgi Tomasson, and Shaun O’Brien. Based on the writing of E.T.A. Hoffmann (The Nutcracker), the classic, 19th century story ballet, Coppélia, tells the tale of a mad inventor and the life-like doll he creates. George Balanchine staged his version of the ballet with Alexandra Danilova in 1974, set to a score by French composer Léo Delibes.
Dr. Coppélius is a doctor who has made a life-size dancing doll. It is so lifelike that Franz, a village youth, becomes infatuated with it and sets aside his heart's true desire, Swanhilda. She shows him his folly by dressing as the doll, pretending to make it come to life and ultimately saving him from an untimely end at the hands of the inventor.
