National Ballet of Japan was supposed to perform Roland Petit’s Coppélia in May 2021 during the outbreak of the pandemic, but sadly the performances had to be cancelled. However, Artistic Director Miyako Yoshida made the bold decision to do 4 performances without audiences, casting different leads and streamed live. The free, live relays were successful, with a total of 167,000 views. The company also received large donations which were used in order to perform his Coppélia, but this time, with an audience.
Petit’s Coppélia, created in 1975, entered the company’s repertoire in 2007 and has been revived several times as it has been an audience favourite with its charming production design in shades of grey and pink. The original Arthur St-Léon work created in 1870 took place in a Polish village, but this version is transported to an 1880s garrison town, where soldiers march and the young women are very flirtatious. The divertissements in the wedding scene have been excluded and there are only 3 main characters: the young lovers, Swanilda and Franz and the mysterious Dr. Coppélius who tries to bring his doll, Coppélia, to life.
Petit’s choreography requires secure classical technique from Swanilda. Fast footwork and turns en pointe appear throughout the ballet, while some movements differ from the traditional classical vocabulary. Yui Yonezawa has crisp and clean movements, musically making this difficult task look easy. The Spanish and Scottish solos in Coppélius’ workshop were especially stunning in terms of virtuosity, as well as the wedding variations which displayed her strong sense of balance. A natural actress, Yonezawa was not the typical Petit ballerina as she was lacking in sensuality and coquetry, but her mischievousness while disguised as Coppélia was delightful and expressive, showing jealousy to her unfaithful lover. The use of her shoulders, which is one of the trademarks of Petit’s choreography, was fluent.
Shun Izawa as Franz, excelled in the bravura, gravity-defying solos seen in both acts. As he has been Yonezawa’s frequent partner, their partnership was excellent dramatically and particularly in the difficult wedding pas de deux, his strength in partnering was shown as he throws Swanilda high into the air. Usually with a princely demeanour, Izawa was unexpectedly well cast playing a flirtatious and somewhat silly Franz. His acting has greatly improved since the live relay 2 years ago.
The most important role is the creepy doll-maker Coppélius. Roland Petit himself was the original in the role, portraying the character as an elegant gentleman with the desire to bring his beloved doll Coppélia to life with magic. Ryuji Yamamoto, a former principal dancer with the company, created a mix of elegance, misplaced desire and some Charlie Chaplin-like comical gestures that seemed to be inspired by Petit’s repetiteur, Luigi Bonino. Yamamoto used to be known as the danseur noble and here, his spellbinding pas de deux with the Coppélia doll, was the highlight of the evening with his fluid, soft, elegant footwork showing his pathetic affection to the lifeless doll. Coppélius meets a very cruel epilogue, his beloved Coppélia is broken into pieces in his arms, while the young lovers happily celebrate their wedding.
This Coppélia is a flawed production: Swanilda's friends, who shake and wiggle their hips, seemed a little inappropriate in the modern era. The corps de ballet’s choreography was charming and refined but repetitive. But with the polished performances of the three leads creating a bittersweet, human drama and the whole company giving their best on stage, it lit a warm light in the audience’s hearts, as it did two years ago when everyone was depressed with the pandemic. Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marc Leroy-Catalayud (his conducting debut in Japan) gave a lively, colourful flavour to the beautiful Delibes score.
