Ballet’s Best Comedy at OBT

Inherently, the ballet Coppélia by Leo Delibes is a very silly story. The events following a boy mistakenly falling in love with a doll are undeniably absurd, and they offer a brand of comedy far from the stiff-upper-lip that many associate with ballet. These comedic elements can distract from the fact that Coppélia is an incredibly demanding ballet, with difficult choreography, complicated and multi-faceted roles, a larger-than-usual amount of high energy group numbers, and lots of unforgivingly uptempo songs. Balancing Coppélia’s comedy and technicality is a challenge for any company performing it. Olympic Ballet Theatre gracefully took on this challenge with just the right amount of whimsy, humor, and pure talent to perfect the classic fairy tale, which its company performed May 10 and 11.

OBT dancer Jacqueline Iwamura and guest artist Guillaume Basso fully embody the two leading characters, Swanilda and Franz, right from the jump. They were played with immense energy and sass pouring from both. Iwamura’s Swanilda was sweet, social, and delightfully impish. While Swanilda relishes in the mischief she causes across the story, she is still full of love and energy, wonderfully demonstrated through Iwamura’s buoyant and springy steps in her first variation that teem with joy. Basso brought the perfect energy to Franz, playing him as a boyish, lovable yet absent-minded dope. While the unfortunate situations he gets himself in are entirely predictable and avoidable, one can’t help but pity him with how genuine, open-hearted, and foolish Basso portrays him. 

It’s a treat to watch their chemistry unfold onstage. Even in the middle of a lovers’ spat, Iwamura and Basso capture a more tender aspect of Franz and Swanilda’s dynamic, which often goes overlooked in favor of more comedic moments. Even though the two are equally mischievous and enjoy getting under each other's skins, they genuinely love each other, though Swanilda is honestly hurt by Franz’s seeming unfaithfulness. They are soon to be married, but Franz’s eye has been caught by a girl who spends everyday on the balcony of doll-maker and local kook Dr. Coppelius’ house. 

Even as Swanida tries to be friendly with her and Franz attempts to make his affections known, the girl remains mysteriously quiet and still. Unfortunately for Franz (fortunately for Swanilda), the girl is actually an incredibly lifelike doll–Coppélia herself, the prized creation of Dr. Coppelius. This is not known by either of the young lovers, and the first act culminates in both of them coming up with equally shortsighted plans to break into Dr. Coppelius’ workshop.

First, Swanilda and her posse of village girls break in, and through witnessing a number of brief but intricate dances performed by the Doctor’s other clockwork dolls, set off by the girls as they intrude, they  piece together that Coppélia is indeed a doll. Part of the difficulty of Coppélia is the specific physicality needed to effectively convey these wind-up toys. The steps are lightning fast and the corps’ movements need to be perfectly mechanical–an intimidating combination. OBT’s dancers handled the task with grace and thorough attention to detail, landing impossibly precise jumps and spins at a punishing speed as if they were truly powered by gears and springs. 

The sound of the dolls alerts Dr. Coppelius, played by OBT character artist Frank Borg, who this act puts a well deserved spotlight on. The character’s codger-ly mannerisms and complete befuddlement at Swanilda and Franz’s capers are integral to the comedy of the show, and Borg fully delivered. For a non-dancing role, all of the characterization comes from pantomime, expression, and physical comedy, which Borg had in spades. It’s impossible not to snicker as he haplessly chases the group of village girls in circles around the lab, eventually shooing them all out but Swanilda, who evades him by dodging behind a curtain and dressing herself in Coppélia’s clothes.

Meanwhile, Franz has taken a ladder up to the balcony and is now breaking in as well. Dr. Coppelius, already fed up from the girls disrupting his workspace, immediately tries to shoo Franz out, but through some quick pantomime he ends up giving Franz a sleeping potion and preparing a spell to transfer Franz’s life essence into Coppélia, bringing the doll to life. Borg shines here again; you can almost hear the conversations he pantomimes with Basso and Iwamura, who, as Swanilda posing as Coppélia, tricks the doctor and manages to free Franz.   

Swanilda is one of the most difficult roles in classical repertoire, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the second act. While Iwamura was impressive in the first act, especially when. However, her talent reaches new heights as she plays Swanilda imitating Coppélia. It’s a very layered role–which is already difficult–but the juxtaposition of Swanilda’s lively, explosive dancing with Coppélia’s restricted, delicate movements makes this an even greater challenge. The performer needs to master both styles, and on top of that be able to ever-so-gradually transition from one to the other as Swanilda slowly drops the act. Iwamura perfected this aspect of the performance; she seamlessly slipped between the mechanical, staccato steps of Coppélia and the bombastic, powerful energy of Swanilda, effortlessly playing off of Borg’s increasing exasperation in the process, also highlighting Mara Vinson and Oleg Gorboulev’s adaptation of the original choreography. Iwamura’s talents as dancer and an actress were well-suited for Swanilda, and the second act truly let her flourish.

After the chaos and hilarity of the second act, the ballet comes to a comparatively calm finale. The key word is comparatively, as Franz and Swanilda’s wedding in the final act still captures their usual bravado and playfulness with a tender yet energizing duet bringing the two together. This is situated between an onslaught of colorful, celebratory ensemble numbers. These allowed the entirety of OBT to show their strengths in these intricate dances–including several talented students from the Olympic Ballet School, showing a promising future for the company. 

In the culmination of the ballet, their wedding dance, we get to see even more of Iwamura and Basso’s impeccable chemistry. In the adagio, Basso seems perfectly attuned to Iwamura, able to anticipate her steps and match her every move with great ease. With steps like the gentle lift at the end, he handles her incredibly delicately as he places her on his shoulder, but the strength of the move still conveys the verve and passion that the two characters have. 

Both of their solos showed the individual talents of the dancers as well. Basso performed with exacting precision and technique, but still conveyed Franz’s youthful abandon through the sky-high jumps and flowing turns. Similarly, Swanilda’s dance required delicate, precise footwork and a gentle pas de bourree which Iwamura handled with great care while still maintaining Swanilda’s pure girlish joy. 

There’s a lot about Coppélia that makes it difficult to pull off. It can’t be taken too seriously, or else the humor of the show is completely lost. It can’t be played entirely for comedy, or else the technique and talent of the dancers is overshadowed. Finding the middle ground takes a lot, and OBT’s Coppélia had it. With immensely talented leads unafraid to tap into the story’s absurdities, OBT  struck a balance in comedy and technique that created an absolutely enjoyable production of a ballet classic.

Lead photo: Olympic Ballet Theatre dancer Jacqueline Iwamura and guest artist Guillaume Basso in OBT’s “Coppélia”, 2025. Into Dust Photography.

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