Eastern Michigan University's dance department and symphony orchestra are partnering up for an abridged performance of Delibes's "Coppélia" on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.

The dance will be a ballet piece by Léo Delibes, a 65-minute abridged version of "Coppélia," allowing the audience to see one of the most famous and family-friendly ballets in person, performed by multi-talented students from many different areas of campus.  

This ballet piece tells the story of a girl named Coppélia who spends her day reading and never speaks to anyone. A boy named Franz falls in love with her even though he is engaged to another woman. His fiance, Swanhilda, sees Franz giving kisses to Coppélia. She finally learns that Coppélia is a doll that belongs to a mad scientist named Doctor Coppelius. Swanhilda decides to impersonate the doll so Franz can notice and she can win him back, and at the end of the play, they reconcile and get married.

These ballet performances have been going on for 30 years, and many students from the dance department and the symphony orchestra will be participating in this event to tell this story.

The students rehearse for about a month, with the orchestra class working on the music and the dancers practicing their choreography. They also have one dress rehearsal where they all put everything they learned together before the night of the performance.

"'Coppélia' is derived from a set of two French novels by E.T.A. Hoffman and is one of the top ten ballets of all time, and has thrilled audiences young and old for over 150 years," Chad Hutchinson, Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities, said. "It was composed around the same time as Tchaikovsky’s 'Nutcracker' and 'Swan Lake.'"

In addition to collaborating with the dance department on a ballet piece, the orchestra also worked with the EMU choir on a choral/orchestral concert to close the year in April. 

"In addition, the orchestra also performs with the Opera Workshop bi-annually, features student concerto winners in the winter semester, and performs a yearly Halloween Pops Concert for younger audiences," Hutchinson said.

While the audience will be able to enjoy this great family event, it is also a performance that allows the students to learn from each other while going in-depth with the knowledge of others as well as learning other art forms.

The tickets are $10 for all audience members and can be purchased here.

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