Coppelia [2001]

The music starts, we are on location in the midst of tower apartment blocks in Lyons and a bearded elderly man is walking determinedly towards us, who is he, he distracts us from the music.I am not a balletomane so have no idea of current trends, but for a production of a classical ballet this could well be a one off. The first half takes place on location on a hardboard football pitch (including some playing of the game). The effect of a corps de ballet costumed in entirely modern clothes, all different, is fascinating.The second half is set in Dr Coppelius's workshop, and unlike the first half slowly descends into the banal, although the comments by the director Maguy Marin indicates this is intended to illustrate the dominance of women in seducing men.I thoroughly enjoyed being continuously challenged by this production, I welcome the effort to inject new thinking into classical music forms, but I think in this case the director tried to develop a drama with deep psychological undertones on what Delibes intended to be a delightful entertainment.How does one sum this up, is it ballet, is it mime, half the music is missing, I admit I haven't a clue.But one thing is absolutely certain, if you like ballet you must try this.