“Superb”

Superb would be an accurate description of last nights performance of Coppelia by Scottish Ballet. But I think my reads here have become accustomed to a little more detail than that. I honestly had no idea how to go about starting to write this one and I am still not sure I really do, but let’s give it a try.

Backtracking a little to the journey down. The train arrived movements after I got to the platform so there was no waiting there and the first leg of the journey through to Birmingham New Street seemed to go fine. No delays on this leg. I changed at Birmingham New Street and found the train waiting for me when I got to the platform. It’s 13:36 departure time came.. and went and we left I believe around 3 minutes late. No idea why there was a delay. But over time as we got to each station down the line, another 3-5 minutes were added to that delay. We made it to Euston later than expected.. Quite a bit later. A quick ride on the Northern Line to Bank then the DLR out to Prince Albert and the Hotel. I made it to the hotel at 17:03. So 11:33 till 17:03 – 6.5 hours of train travel… That seems a bit extreme even for me! – Note to self, the Liv – Sta – Eus route is far quicker, even if there is a wait at Stafford! I’ll know for next time. I just need to check to see if I am booked on this much slower route for any more of my pre-paid trips so far this year.

So with literally less than an hour to spend resting in the hotel I got myself ready and headed out just after 18:00. Now you all know me and my walking pace isn’t good. It was 18:18 when I got on the first of two DLR trains. At that point I started to worry about not making it to the venue for the planned start time of 19:30. Another DLR train and the Northern Line later I arrived in Angel. It was 19:03. For me its a good 15-20 minute walk to get to the venue, so I set off. I made it with 10 minutes to spare.

I found an extremely packed Sadlers Wells when I arrived. The queue for the bar was stacked 4 rows back so I opted against a drink and instead settled for a cup of water. I made my way up to the second floor where my second circle seat was located and made my way into the house. My seat was Q31, which is a seat I’ve sat in before. It’s an end-of-the-row seat which is literally on the back row with only the stairs in front of you, so the view down to the stage is good. Obviously being so high up, and far back, picking out details that one would see if sat closer can be a bit of an issue, and unfortunately the top half of the screen being used at the back of the stage was cut off, but I knew that would be that way when I booked the ticket.

Ultimately, this was to be my first experience of Live Ballet. So knowing what to expect or what aspects were important to keep an eye on were not things I automatically knew from experience. The venue is full.. The performance tonight was sold out, as are all other performances of the show and so too was, I believe Patrons night last night. There were however some seats vacant in the second circle. Why? I am not sure. There was also one or two people who found they needed to leave the second circle during the performance.. Why? Again, I’ve no idea but they didn’t come back. Anyway, my row was pretty full down the end I was in, and the seats up there are not.. the widest ever, so there was lots of bumping and such. There was the usual amount of ‘audience participation’.. coughing to fill silences, bit of laughter here and there and so on.

To the start… The show started promptly at 19:30 which was on time and surprising. An announcement was made for people to turn off their phones and not to take any photographs and I think this was a good idea, it seemed to, for the most part, work. When the curtain went up we were presented with a stage which was covered in a white floor with white walls on the rear and left & right. The walls were all double-height as the top half of them was used to project video sequences on to as well as sequences from the live on-stage camera. I couldn’t see the rear screen well but the same was shown on the side walls, and those were in view, so I don’t think I missed as much as I thought I was going to. In front of the stage, and a first for me at Sadlers Wells, was an open pit where a live orchestra sat. All the music for the show was played live by super talented musicians. Being so high up, if I lent forward a little you could see down into the pit a little, enough to see the horns and a little of the percussion. The volume of the music was great.

First on the stage were a couple dressed in suits and they performed the opening sequence which was traditional ballet across the whole of the empty stage, lit in simple whites. This was a soothing start and a nice easement into what would become a much more frenetic performance.

I guess at this stage it might be of use to find out what Coppelia is about.. First I’ll post what my idea of it was from seeing the show, and then I’ll post what I find from research.. see how close I was. To me the storyline was about a couple who were interested in the advancements that a tech genius was making with AI. They get to see behind the scenes and all is going well until something fails. From there the story descends into chaos and half of the couple goes.. undercover to discover more, only to be trapped into becoming one of these AI’s herself. ‘What is real?’ is a question that is explored greatly throughout, and a twist features towards the end… Now lets see if I was right…

What does it mean to be human in a world of artificial intelligence? A contemporary rework of Coppelia, which tells the story of Silicon Valley’s hottest new inventor Dr Coppelius and his latest AI creation ‘Coppelia’. Trademark humour is used throughout, with sharp, witty solos, beautiful pas de deux and exhilarating full ensemble scenes paired with cinematic live projections. The original Delibes score is reimagined as part of an extraordinary new composition by Mikael Karlsson and Michael P Atkinson, performed live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra. Breaking down the boundaries of dance, theatre and film, this pioneering new adaptation will warp audiences’ sense of reality, leaving them wondering what is real and what is artificial, as they are lured into Dr Coppelius’ world of robots and clones.

So in a nutshell.. Yes.

This is really a performance that needs no introduction and really should be experienced by audiences worldwide. But this is the first time that it has been performed outside of Scotland, so one can only hope that some sort of UK or Worldwide tour comes out of this. The modern twist put on the classic Coppelia by the Scottish Ballet really was nothing short of mind-blowing. Several devices were made use of throughout the performance, such as the use of a live camera being on stage and incorporated to become part of the dance rather than simply there capturing it. The camera was following Dr. Coppelius around and capturing his interactions with the rest of the cast who’s parts in this story were integral. Footage from this camera were live-projected back up on to the screens above the stage and this was also perfectly intercut with pre-recorded footage showing sequences following the dancers as they exited the stage, going down passageways and corridors as if inside of a larger complex. A stage within a stage was used on several occasions, as an office, bedroom and other rooms too.

This smaller room was built into the walls of the main stage and was seamlessly pulled out to the centre of the larger stage by the cast. Action then took place inside the room which had four walls, some of them blocked and others not. This room was rotated so that the audience could see inside – all while action was happening on the main stage as well as inside the room. This device was used a lot throughout, but it always seemed to add something to the story and performance rather than becoming a go-to device to extend the performance.

A smaller video screen was flown in and out on occasions and was used early on by Dr Coppelius as a tablet-style screen to select a model of AI / Robot that he wished to interact with. This was cleverly used to interact with the recorded video projected on to it, but then it was flown quickly to reveal the chosen model standing in person behind it. This is both clever in terms of setup but in terms of overall integration into the performance… This really did involve all areas of the theatre. This was refreshing to see.. as Dance as a medium can be very sparse. Vast open sets, lit from the sides, with the focus on solely the Dancers… which is very much not the case with Coppelia from Scottish Ballet. – Thankfully the set, the lighting, costume design, music and Dance were all very much made a part of the show. Each had their part to play individually and collaboratively came together to produce a mind-bending, mind-blowing performance. This small screen was used once of twice in the same way, then towards the climax of the production this was used in another way entirely which forms part of the twist this performance has to offer. How that was achieved was extremely clever to witness. (Don’t worry, I won’t spoil it).

This cannot be overstated.. If a future opportunity comes around, please go and see this magnificent performance. My only wish is that I had been able to get hold of a programme for this performance as I would have liked to have read about the Dancers and also have had some idea of the background and history of some of the outstanding talent that performed other aspects of the show, such as lighting, flying, set & costume design and music.

I really don’t feel that my write up here does anywhere near enough justice to the performance I got to see last night. I think perhaps I am still processing it all and more will come to me over time. But I think more accurately I am simply still in awe from what was witnessed. If my fellow dance enthusiasts will forgive… If all ballet was like this then count me in.