Ballet West will be touring its acclaimed production of Coppélia to the Empire Theatre, Eden Court, on 1st March 2008. Ballet West is a young ballet company that uses a mix of professional dancers with students in the final stages of their dance training. Over recent years, the company has developed a significant reputation in producing very high quality, classical ballet, which is developing loyal audiences in venues throughout Scotland.

The ballet tells the story of Coppélia, a doll made by Dr Coppélius that is so life-like and beautiful that all the people in Dr Coppélius' village believe her to be real. Swanilda, the heroine of the story, tries to make friends with what appears to be a lonely and quiet girl and is annoyed when she is ignored. She is further enraged when she sees her boyfriend, Franz, flirting with this beautiful girl and having his affections repaid with a kiss.

Unaware that the other has the same idea, both Franz and Swanhilda separately sneak into Dr Coppélius' workshop at night to discover the truth behind the mysterious and beautiful Coppélia, with unexpected consequences for all concerned.

Coppélia is produced by the same successful team that have developed the company’s recent productions including Kenn Burke, former acting artistic director at Scottish Ballet. The principal roles of will be danced by brother and sister team Sara-Maria Smith and Jonathan Barton. These principals are Adeline Genée medallists and have performed with companies such as Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Sara-Maria was described by one reviewer as “being distinguished by a clearly focussed style of simple elegance” in her role as Swanhilda.

The production will feature Todd Fox, an American professional dancer, in the role of Dr Coppelius. Todd was born in Miami and trained at the School of American Ballet in New York and the San Francisco Ballet School. Throughout his professional career Todd has danced all the major classical male roles with leading dance companies around the world.

Coppélia can be seen at the Empire Theatre, Eden Court on 1st March at 7:30pm. Tickets are £12 /£9 with a special price of £5 for under 18s. For more information contact the box office on 01463 234234.