Narrative ballet has long been stuck in the 1800s; rarely does anything that looks like the 21st century appear on the ballet stage. Choreographic duo Morgann Runacre-Temple and Jessica Wright have achieved that in Coppélia, one of the most twee of 19th-century ballets, reimagined as a modern cautionary tale with elements of thriller, satire and philosophical inquiry.
In the original, Dr Coppélius creates a life-sized doll that catches the eye of Swanhilda’s fiance. Here the bones of the story stay the same, but the setting is pure Silicon Valley. Coppélius (Bruno Micchiardi) is a black polo-neck clad tech guru with giant ego and a model of a space rocket in his study – in case we were in any doubt we’re in Elon Musk territory. Micchiardi plays him with just the right amount of smug swagger, without veering into caricature, helped by the live camera feed that projects closeup details above the stage, and a smart, succinct script by Jeff James.
In his NuLife lab, he is creating “Coppélia”, an AI being that can exist in corporeal form. Not a world away from something like Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, although since that film came out, the idea of sentient AI has become less sci-fi, more just sci. Into this comes sceptical journalist Swanhilda (the excellent Constance Devernay-Laurence), both fascinated and disturbed by the creations in the lab.
Choreographically, much of the movement has the sleek ergonomics of a Jonathan Ive design, it’s stylishly functional with some clever details. There’s an inspired Gangnam-style TikTok dance at a tech bros party, and when Swanhilda hacks her way into the lab she finds not cliched robot moves but an eerily beautiful scene where the AI-droids make Rorschach-like shapes with extended limbs.
Composers Mikael Karlsson and Michael P Atkinson use quotes from Delibes’ music in a score that travels from electronic soundscape to full orchestra, plugging drama into the stage’s cool aesthetic. Music and video are synthesised into well-paced storytelling that genuinely asks some relevant questions, and boldly refuses to tie everything up with a neat bow and romantic pas de deux. This Coppélia is a successful stride into ballet’s future.
At Festival theatre, Edinburgh, until 16 Aug.
