COPPÉLIA
Chelmsford
Ballet Company at the Civic Theatre
16.03.13
Coppélia
was the first ballet presented by our city's own ballet company just
after the war, and it has been successfully revived many times since.
This
latest version, adapted by Artistic Director Annette Potter,
soft-pedals the sinister and concentrates on the fun, the humour and
the magic. A packed matinée loved it, and enjoyed some lovely warm
performances. Setting the tone, Andy Potter as a nutty professor
Coppelius, grumpily guarding his magic doll.
Popping
in like Alice through the tiny door, Demi Aldred made a feisty
Swanilda, the girl who turns automaton to get her man. She danced
with easy fluency – an impressive Act III solo – and an
infectious sense of mischief: she had lots of fun with her gang of
four, who made a neat ensemble without looking too regimented. Her
Franz was guest artist Richard Bermange, who was dazzling in his
solos, partnered Demi in an elegant pas de deux, and was brilliant at
drawing the audience into the plot.
A
happy corps de ballet, beautifully costumed, provided a colourful
context – reapers, national dolls, crusader knights, hours and
bridesmaids; there was outstanding work from Samantha Ellis in the
two surviving solo divertissements, and from Michael Smith and Megan
McLatchie leading the increasingly frenetic Czardas.
