A Profile of Coppélia

Coppélia is the very popular comic ballet. Its music was composed by Delibes and choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon. The story was written by Arthur Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter after E.T.A. Hoffman’s Der Sandmann. Coppélia's premier in 1870 was an immediate success – it was a great relief from the heavy, more sad ballets of that time. Coppélia was the last triumph of the Paris Opera before its precious title of “the leading city of dance” slipped through the cracks.