New West Ballet Presents…
Note from Director
Coral M. Bruni, Ph.D.
With the recent changes to New West Ballet, I am so excited to present to you New West Ballet’s production of Coppélia. Over the years we have performed several iterations of this classic, three-act full-length ballet. Coppélia has always been one of my absolute favorite ballets to perform, stage, and watch. I hope you enjoy this performance, as much as we have in putting this together.
Enjoy the Show!
~Coral
Welcome to our
Online Program
The Story of Coppélia
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Choreographed by: Arthur St. Léon (Paris, 1870), restaged by Marius Petipa (St. Petersburg,1884), and revised by Enrico Cecchetti (1894)
Restaged by: Coral M. Bruni, Ph.D., New West Ballet
Additional Choreography and Restaging by: Eugenia Keefer, New West Ballet, Kellie Foy, San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy, and Laurel Stevens, New West Ballet
Music by: Léo Delibes
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Coppélia is a comedic ballet, originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Leo Delibes. The story is set in a small European village where Dr. Coppélius, a toymaker, lives and begins during a town festival in celebration of a plentiful harvest. During this festival, anyone who wants to be married will be awarded a special dowery. In this story, Swanhilda, a village girl, is engaged to be married to Franz during the village’s celebration and they plan to be married during the festival. However, Franz’ becomes infatuated with Coppélia, a beautiful doll in Dr. Coppélius’s window. Franz is mesmerized by Coppélia’s beauty and is determined to get her attention; however, Coppélia sits reading all day long, paying no heed and showing no care for anyone trying to be social with her. Franz’s distractions deeply hurt Swanhilda and she feels he does not love her despite his answers. Swanhilda decides to turn to an old wive’s tale for guidance. She holds up an ear of wheat to her ear; if it rattles when she shakes it, then she will know that he loves her. She shakes the wheat furiously, but no rattle can be heard. Confused and upset, she has Franz do the same thing. He tells her it does rattle. She does not believe him and runs away heartbroken. Later that day, Dr. Coppélius leaves his house and absentmindedly drops his keys on his way out. Swanhilda and her friends find the keys, determined to find out more about Coppélia, they sneak into Dr. Coppélius’s house. Dr. Coppélius arrives back home to find his door ajar and sneaks back inside to find the culprits. Act 1 ends with Franz also finding the door to Dr. Coppélius’s house ajar and venturing into the house.
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Inside Dr. Coppélius’s house, Swanhilda and her friends find themselves in a room filled with strange people, who are not moving. The girls discover that these are not people at all, but life-size mechanical dolls. They quickly wind them up and watch them move. Swanhilda finds Coppélia behind a curtain and discovers that she too is a doll. When Dr. Coppélius returns home, he finds the girls in his house and angrily banishes them from his house, all but Swanhilda who stays hidden behind the curtain with Coppélia. As he cleans up the mess the girls created, he notices Franz coming into the house. Instead of shooing him away, he invites him in with the evil idea that he will steal Franz’s soul and transfer it to Coppélia to bring her to life. Dr. Coppélius lures Franz into a drunken sleep by giving him wine laced with a sleeping potion. Once Franz is asleep, Dr. Coppélius readies his magic spell to steal Franz’s soul. In the meantime, afraid of being caught by Dr. Coppélius and devising a plan of her own to get back at Franz for being infatuated with Coppélia, Swanhilda dresses up in Coppélia’s clothes and pretends to come to life. Swanhilda quickly tires of pretending to be Coppélia and dancing with Dr. Coppélius. She wakes Franz and they quickly escape by winding up all the mechanical dolls. Dr. Coppélius becomes saddened to find a lifeless Coppélia behind the curtain.
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Swanhilda and Franz are married during the village celebration and are presented with many gifts and blessings. An angry Dr. Coppélius shows up at the celebration and Swanhilda offers Dr. Coppélius her dowry in return for his forgiveness. The town instead gives Dr. Coppélius a sum of money. The entire town celebrates by dancing.
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Educational materials about Coppélia and ballet are available here. For more information about our educational materials and outreach opportunities, please email us at newwestballet@gmail.com. We would love to connect with you!
The Staff
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Coral M. Bruni, Ph.D.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Coral began her ballet training with New West Ballet in 1987. Her dancing repertoire consists of many lead roles, with favorites including: “Aurora” in Sleeping Beauty, the leading role in Raymonda, and “Snow Queen” in The Nutcracker. She has performed as a guest artist for San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy, Palomar College, and Mira Costa College. As a ballet instructor, Coral has taught in North County since 1995. Her teaching experience includes positions with New West Ballet, Oceanside Dance Academy, Georgias School of Dance, Ramona-Julian Academy of Dance, and Palomar College. Recently Coral has staged ballets Paquita, La Bayadere, Coppélia, and Les Sylphides. In her spare time, Coral is a mother of three and earned her Ph.D. in applied social psychology at Claremont Graduate University.
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Laurel Stevens
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Laurel began her ballet training in 1994 at Bravo Dance Center in Acworth, GA. After settling in San Diego County. Laurel continued her training with New West Ballet School. Her dancing repertoire consists of lead roles, with favorites including “Raymonda” in Ramonda and the “Arabian Princess” in The Nutcracker. In addition to her ballet training, Laurel has taught ballet, assisted with choreography and rehearsals, served on the board of directors for the New West Ballet Foundation, and has been an integral part of the New West Ballet team. Laurel holds a bachelor’s degree in History with a focus on the Americas and Africa from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Principal Dancers
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Adelina Sibiski
SWANHILDA
Adelina Sibiski, at the young age of 17, is the newest member of the New West Ballet team. Adelina has been dancing since she was born at New West Ballet. Her dancing repertoire consists of many lead roles, with favorites, including: “Dew Drop” from The Nutcracker, and “The White Rabbit” from Alice and Wonderland. Adelina has performed as a guest artist for the San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy. Adelina holds a certificate of teaching from New West Ballet in both preballet and classical ballet levels and currently teaches at several studios in North County San Diego. Recently, Adelina graduated from Mission Vista High School and will attend Palomar College. She’s grateful for the opportunity to not only bring to life the magic of Coppélia, but also to bring together the people she loves in her role as Swanhilda.
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Sergio Gomez
FRANZ
Sergio Gomez started dancing at Mission Hills High School in a dance class offered by his school. After graduation he further expanded his dance education by dancing at Palomar Community College in San Marcos. From there he decided to focus on his ballet education by training with New West Ballet. Sergio has performed in a variety of contemporary and modern pieces as well as classical ballets with New West Ballet including principal roles in Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Paquita.
Sergio enjoys traveling to perform guest roles. He has guest-starred as the “Nutcracker Prince” in The Nutcracker with The Ballet Studio in Temecula, and the male leads in The Little Mermaid and Paquita for San Francisco Youth Ballet. Now, he is still continuously growing, learning, and dancing daily. Dancing has become his passion and he is grateful for his instructors and sources of inspiration.
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Jessica Reilly
Dr. Coppélius
Jessica Reilly began dancing at New West Ballet at the age of 5. Her favorite roles consist of a variety of soloist and principals roles such as “Helena” in A Midsummer Night's Dream, “The Cowardly Lion” in The Wizard of Oz, and “The Snow Queen” in The Nutcracker. Outside of ballet Jessica enjoys performing with her ballet folklórico troupe Grupo Folkorico Miztontli which allows her to utilize her performing skills in a very different manner. Jessica has also choreographed and taught ballet folklórico for New West Ballet as part of the “Spanish Chocolate” variation in The Nutcracker. Jessica is incredibly excited to be back onstage with New West Ballet in Coppélia, a ballet she has done before, but this time in a role so very different from parts she’s done in past productions.
Soloist Dancers
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Rebekah Brennan
FRIEND/FOLLY
Having danced since age three, Rebekah went en pointe at eleven and began intense training at thirteen at The Ballet Studio Inc. in Murrieta, CA. She danced two seasons with San Diego Ballet. In June 2023, she co-founded Cinballera Entertainment with her sister, Tiffany, and has choreographed and danced the lead in four original ballets with the company. She has played many parts, with her favorites being: Clara-Marie in Mark Erickson’s The Nutcracker, Cinderella in San Diego Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty, and Stella in her own ballet Stella and Starbuck. She is also a professional opera singer and journalist and dabbles in fiction writing and video editing. This is her first production with New West Ballet, and she is excited to play the role of Folly and one of Swanhilde’s friends in Coppelia.
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Ainsley Elsner
FRIEND/DAWN
Ainsley Elsner is 16 and has been dancing at New West since age 5. Her favorite roles consist of “Rat Queen” in The Nutcracker, “Wicked Witch” in The Wizard of Oz, and Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ainsley holds a certificate of teaching from New West Ballet in PreBallet. Besides dance Ainsley enjoys performing in musicals as it allows her to stretch different performing muscles including singing and tap. She has never lost her love for dance, and she hopes to inspire many young girls to dance, for they may find their passion for the arts as she did so many years ago.
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Isabella Garcia
FRIEND/WORK
Isabella Garcia began dancing at age 3 at her local YMCA. As she got older she switched to Anne’s School of Dance in Valley Center. Her favorite roles consist of being Tinkerbell in Peter Pan with Anne’s School of Dance and Waltz Corps and Arabian in The Nutcracker with New West Ballet. Isabella is excited to be entering her final year at Westmont College where she will be earning her B.S. in Molecular Biology and a minor in Chemistry with hopes of applying to medical school this year. After taking a break from dancing for her schooling, Isabella is enthusiastic to be dancing with New West once again. She is excited to play the role of one of Swanhilda’s friends and more importantly, has found some amazing friendships through the cast this summer.
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Glenna Torrence
FRIEND/PRAYER
Glenna Torrence has danced with New West Ballet since the age of 3. Some of her favorite roles with New West have been “Golden Child” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Alice” in Alice in Wonderland, and “Clara” and “Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker. Some of her favorite non-New West Ballet performances have been guesting with Dance in the Streets Arizona as “Sugar Plum Fairy” in their production of The Nutcracker as well with Pacific Lyrics Association’s production of the opera Die Fledermaus in the “Voices of Spring” pas de deux. Outside of New West Glenna is currently working toward her AA in Dance at Palomar College. She is excited for the acting challenge in Coppélia and for all of the fun people she is able to dance with.
Corps de Ballet
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Tiffany Brennan
VILLAGER/SPANISH DOLL
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Abigail Dobrino
VILLAGER/VILLAGER DOLL
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Isabel Lim
VILLAGER/HARLEQUINN DOLL
SFYBA
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Michelle Liu
VILLAGER/ARABIAN DOLL
SFYBA
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Bailey Moore
VILLAGER/CHINESE DOLL
SFYBA
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Minnie Ritchie
VILLAGER
SFYBA
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Samantha Rivera
VILLAGER/SCOTTISH DOLL
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Reese Sweet
VILLAGER/VILLAGER DOLL
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Mary Margaret Torrence
COPPÉLIA/VILLAGER
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Ian Aguilar-Foy
VILLAGER
SFYBA
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Tom Dobrino
VILLAGER
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William Horning
VILLAGER
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Josh Ornelas
VILLAGER
SFYBA
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Javier Ortiz
VILLAGER
SFYBA
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Adam Sweet
PRIEST/VILLAGER
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Murtaugh Torrence
VILLAGER/PIRATICAL PARROT DOLL
Special Thanks & Acknowledgements
San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy and Artistic Director Kellie Foy for continued support throughout this process, guest artists, and staffing help during the show.
North County Academy of Dance (NCAD) Oceanside and Cassandra Infante for hosting New West Ballet during our rehearsals.
Dance FX and Amari Russell for hosting New West Ballet during our rehearsals and supporting us through our transition period of life.
We’d also like to offer a special thanks to our volunteers, without you this show would not be possible:
Niamh Michalik - Sets & Props
Christine Chase - Costumes
Kathy McAdoo - Sets
New West Ballet would like to take a moment to thank the following for their contributions to the show. To all of you who make this production possible, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Without these people and organizations, this production would not be possible!
Our Sponsors
Whisked Design & Delights
Like the food at concessions this year? Sasha at Whisked Design & Delights graciously provided these delightful treats. For more information about her goodies, please visit her website or on Instagram at @whiskeddesignsanddelights
Dancin’ Soul Boutique
Dancin’ Soul Boutique is the place to buy dancewear and is conveniently located in Carlsbad Village. Stop in and experience this one-of-a-kind dance apparel store. For more information about Dancing’ Soul, please visit their website.
Tony Delgado Realtor
Rise Realty
Looking for a realtor you can trust? How about a New West Ballet dancer?
(760) 847-2505
homehuntersH!@gmail.com
Instagam: @the.peoplesagent
Our show was sponored, in part, by grants received from the California Arts Council (CAC). At the CAC, their mission is to strengthen arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. For more information about California Arts Council, please visit their website.
Cinballera dancers Rebekah and Tiffany Brannan joined NWB in this year’s production of Coppélia. In August, these sisters will once again grace the stage in their original ballet prologue of The Girl of the Golden West. Please join NWB at this special event that brings together ballet, opera, music, and theater. Tickets are available now.
Like the photos of our rehearsals? Many of these photos were taken by Bryan Dahl. From producing award-winning short films and fashion editorials to concert series and marketing campaigns, Bryan has been blessed to work with artists of every talent. For more information about the services that Bryan offers, please visit his website.
Upcoming Events
We are excited to share that New West Ballet will be partnering with Norris Performing Arts Center to bring you Mark Erickson’s The Nutcracker on November 30th and December 1 at 2 pm at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. This exciting twist on your classic Nutcracker is sure to catch your attention.
Want to perform in this year’s Nutcracker? Please visit our Nutcracker 2024 page for more information about this exciting opportunity.
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