Mikhail Baryshnikov - Solo from ’Coppelia’

This delightful solo performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov is from the comic ballet ’Coppélia’, which was choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to music by Léo Delibes. Charles Nuitter provided the libretto and mise-en-scène, which were based on two stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann -- ’Der Sandmann’ (’The Sandman’) and ’Die Puppe’ (’The Doll’). The work premiered at Théâtre Impérial l’Opéra in 1870 with Giuseppina Bozzacchi as Swanhilde. This ballerina showed great promise but, weakened by the lack of food and the privations attendant with the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of Paris, she contracted smallpox and succumbed to the virus in the same year ... at the age of just seventeen, the same age as the promising Russian ballerina Valentina Semyukova died. What I love about this performance (among many things) is Baryshnikov’s feathery light floating ’ballon’. Enjoy!