Houston Ballet - Coppelia

Ben Steven's Beloved Choreography

During his tenure with the Houston Ballet from 1976 to 2003, Ben Stevenson transformed the company from a small regional to a world class ensemble of over 50 dancers, fearlessly championing groundbreaking new works whilst giving new life to beloved classics and making classical ballet accessible to a wide audience. In his last year as their leader, the English dance icon revamped comic romantic ballet Coppelia as his parting gift, and the beloved production has become a treasured tradition of the Houston Ballet repertory.

Stevenson's challenging, breath-taking choreography tells the tale of two young lovers Franz and Swanhilda. When Franz encounters a life-size doll made by the village's Dr. Coppelius, Franz becomes infatuated with her motionless beauty, much to the dismay of his betrothed Swanhilda. In an attempt to show up his folly, Swanhilda comes up with a cunning plan to imitate the doll, stirring up tensions of the equally-as-infatuated Dr. Coppelius, who has nefarious plans of his own to bring his doll to life. Plans that involve human sacrifice...