17 February 2010
By Annie Carroll
filed under Coppélia, Costume
Gene Kelly is standing in the wardrobe department of The Australian Ballet Centre. So are Isadora, Juliet and Princess Buttercup. They’re all mannequin dummies named by the chortling group of seamstresses. Each is adorned with one of the exquisite costumes Kristian Fredrikson designed for George Ogilvie’s 1979 production of Coppélia. It is an important historical production for The Australian Ballet; Ogilvie’s insights combined with Dame Peggy Van Praagh’s choreography and Fredrikson’s genius result in a superlative production of the ballet. This year, The Australian Ballet will try Coppélia on for size once again, first with a season in Sydney in May, then Melbourne in June.
The stuffy hot air outside the Arts Centre one January morning is thick with the smell of approaching rain, and Melbourne is a swamp of sweaty businessmen and clammy café workers. But inside The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre, a cool and collected Michael Williams, head of the Wardrobe Department, takes me through the hundreds of Coppélia costumes being picked, tucked and stitched. There is barely a moment to waste as the department works frantically on preparing not only Coppélia, but also the equally mammoth The Silver Rose. It quickly becomes apparent that Gene Kelly and Princess Buttercup are here to keep the smiles coming and frowns at bay.
Fredrikson’s Coppélia costumes were created over 30 years ago in a canvas goods factory off Racecourse Road. Today they are undergoing an extensive restoration process. Layers of silk, lace, tulle and taffeta are flopped over chairs and big worktables. It’s a scene with all the flurry and adornment of a Parisian atelier. Many of the costumes are being remade or restored. Rotting silk on jackets must be replaced then dyed to match the older, harder-wearing silks. Saggy tutu skirts need a lift, and Swanhilda receives a new Act 3 Wedding tutu that looks like it’s been plucked straight from a Christian Lacroix runway show. The ‘Reaper Boys’ trousers require a total remake. With the original fabric no longer stocked, wardrobe has found a remarkable look-alike solution: cotton waffle-weave blankets. There is no waste as each unused costume is pillaged for its healthy trimmings, which are then used on new costumes. The wardrobe department looks like a beautiful and fantastical hospital. Costumes on the brink of death are brought back to life with a lot of care and a lot of thread. Read the rest of this entry »
25 January 2010
By Isabel Dunstan
filed under Coppélia, Peggy
Swanilda, the leading lady in the fairytale favourite Coppélia, is traditionally a breakthrough role for a dancer on the rise. She’s fierce, funny, and does ‘the robot’ pretty convincingly. When Swanilda’s fiancé Franz falls in love with a mysterious dancing doll, she doesn’t let him off lightly. Behind closed doors, Swanilda stealthily changes places with the doll and, with stiff, jerky movements, fools everyone. Coppélia was Dame Peggy van Praagh’s all-time favourite ballet and in The Australian Ballet’s 1990 souvenir programme, she explained where her love of performing Swanilda began.
“Ever since the early forties, Coppélia seems to have been a part of my life. I did not expect to dance Swanilda when I first joined the Sadler’s Wells (now Royal) Ballet in 1941. I was not even the understudy for this role. In June 1942, London was subjected to severe air raids. One of the company’s ballerinas, Mary Honer, was at the Café de Paris when it received a direct hit. She was lucky to escape serious injury but suffered severe shock and was unable to dance for several weeks.
“Dame Ninette de Valois, the company’s artistic director, telephoned to inform me that I was to dance Swanilda in Oxford in four days’ time and that I should come immediately to rehearse the role. Robert Helpmann, who was to partner me as Franz, could attend but one rehearsal of the pas de deux. The rest of the company was on tour and I was unable to rehearse with them. So on an evening in June 1942 it was a very nervous Swanilda that took the stage. Later I grew to enjoy the role which I danced many times before I left the company in 1946 to become Ballet Mistress of the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet.”
The Australian Ballet will perform Coppélia in Melbourne and Sydney. Subscription packages are still available in both cities
Image: Peggy van Praagh as Swanilda in Coppelia
16 September 2009
By Isabel Dunstan
filed under 2010, Coppélia
The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director David McAllister knows the tale of Coppélia all too well. Coppélia has everything: flirtation, feisty lovers and a Frankensteinian mad scientist who brings dolls to life. The title role of Franz, the boy-about-town who adores charming the ladies, was David’s very first leading role. “Oh, I was a baby,” David says, rolling his eyes with a grin. “I was just a small fry – but it was still very exciting. It was just one of those dreams come true.”
Franz was the first principal role David played, and it was one of the last before he retired as a dancer. He performed it every time The Australian Ballet staged the work between 1985 and 2000. The character of Franz was a real coming-of-age role for David. “I really felt like I grew up in the role,” David says. The role of Franz was a perfect fit on David – until he felt it was too familiar. “By 2000 I had done a lot of Franzes and I was still able to call on the boy-about-town character,” he says, “but by then I sort of felt like I was just bunging it on as opposed to when I first did it and that was me.” David is now on the other side of the stage, bringing Coppélia to life and handing the baton of Franz to male dancers of the company. Read the rest of this entry »
