Mikhail Baryshnikov Solo from Coppelia

This delightful solo performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov is from the comic ballet Coppélia, which was choreographed by Arthur SaintLéon to music by Léo Delibes. Charles Nuitter provided the libretto and miseenscène, 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 FrancoPrussian 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