Connecticut
Connecticut Ballet brings the living doll, ‘Coppélia,’ back to life at The Bushnell
Why is Connecticut Ballet bringing back its Léo Delibes’ “Coppélia”? Because we could all use a laugh. A beautiful, romantic, exquisitely choreographed ballet dancing laugh.
The show played the Stamford Palace earlier this month and now will be at The Bushnell’s Belding Theater for two performances on May 20 and 21.
Connecticut Ballet first did its “Coppélia” in 1987, according to the company’s founder and artistic director Brett Raphael. “This is its fourth or fifth iteration. Next to ‘The Nutcracker,’ it’s the most popular thing we’ve done. It’s just a beautiful story ballet.”
They haven’t done it at The Bushnell since 2010.
Both Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” and Delibes’ “Coppélia” are based on short stories by the German fantasy writer E.T.A. Hoffmann, who lived from 1776 to 1822. “Coppélia” concerns an inventor, Dr. Coppélius, whose super-realistic dancing doll causes turmoil when she becomes the object of a young man’s affection.
At The Bushnell, the dance features guest soloists plus Connecticut Ballet’s whole corps de ballet. The children in the Hartford performances will be different from the children who danced in Stamford, being drawn from each city’s community. Connecticut Ballet is based in both Stamford and Hartford.
The dancers dance to a 1986 recording of DeLibe’s score by conductor Richard Bonynge and England’s National Philharmonic Orchestra.
For this rendition, Raphael has created new choreography for the famous “Waltz of the Hours” sequence.
“This time it’s more of a neoclassical version, with eight Connecticut Ballet soloists,” he said. He’s also made the wedding pas de deux in the show “more formal.”
Overall, Raphael said his is “a fairly traditional version. I love the feel of Old Europe, Prussia, that throwback to a simpler time.” The dance’s wheat-themed pas de deux makes him think of the “folk wisdom of that part of the world at that time.”
Another big change: This is the first time Connecticut Ballet has staged “Coppélia” where Raphael is not dancing the role of Dr. Coppelius. It was only a few months ago that Raphael ditched another role he’d danced on and off for decades, Drosselmeyer in Connecticut Ballet’s annual “Nutcracker.” He simply felt it was time to pass the torch. “Eric Hu, who has been a character performer with us for many years, has had a year to work on this, and he’s having a great time with it. It’s a very complex role.”
Raphael explained that while comic character roles are a mainstay of classical ballet, it can be hard to get the right training for their unique challenges, like dancing in boots. “There’s dance in a non-balletic way as well. The boots are fantastic. You have to have training to do that boot work.”
The plot of a doll that comes to life, robot-style, makes “Coppélia” “the AI of its time,” Raphael joked. “It’s the childlike fantasy of playing with dolls and having them come to life. It’s a lover’s quarrel that sets it all off.”
Audiences can be assured that “Coppélia” is, as its creators intended, a comic ballet. “Funny? It really is. It is not a troubling afternoon at the ballet. Nobody dies. Nobody gets their head chopped off. They live happily ever after,” he said. “It’s one of the few ballets that is outright comic. It’s not hifalutin’ humor. It’s not lowbrow either. It’s the kind of humor family audiences can appreciate.”
Connecticut Ballet had originally intended to revive “Coppélia” three years ago, in May 2020, but the pandemic ruined that plan.
Coincidentally, there is another “Coppélia” happening in Connecticut this month. New Haven Ballet is doing it on May 27 at 1 p.m. at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, choreographed by that company’s artistic director, Lisa Kim Sanborn, based on the famous version by Marius Petipa. It will be performed by New Haven Ballet School students. Two other works are included in that Shubert program: “Cavaliere Allegro” and “Vivaldi Concerto.” Tickets are $28.60 to $67.80. More information is at newhavenballet.org/spring-performance/.
“There’s a new generation experiencing this ballet,” Raphael said. “It’s popular in America. In Europe, it’s never stopped. It’s been in continuous production at the Paris Opera since it premiered.
“This is the ultimate ballet to introduce children to. It’s fast-paced. It’s funny.”
“Coppélia” is danced May 20 at 7:30 p.m. and May 21 at 2 p.m. at The Bushnell’s Belding Theater, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. $58-$76. bushnell.org.
WESTMINSTER, Vt. (WCAX) – They may be considered a pest in Lake Champlain, but state wildlife officials say sea lamprey call the Connecticut River home.
While the population in Lake Champlain is controlled as a nuisance species, lampreys make up an important part of the Connecticut River ecosystem. Every year, sea lampreys spawn in the river as far upstream as Wilder Dam in the Upper Valley, and in many of the tributaries including the West, Williams, Black, and White Rivers.
In this week’s Wildlife Watch, Ike Bendavid traveled to Westminster, where Vermont Fish and Wildlife biologists are working to protect spawning habitat on the Saxtons River.
Copyright 2024 WCAX. All rights reserved.
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A New Yorker has turned his new home in Connecticut into a pop-of-color “dollhouse” after dreaming of such a space ever since he was a child.
Jonny Carmack, 31, bought his Danbury, Connecticut, home in 2020 after needing to escape Manhattan during the pandemic.
He said that this particular three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom home was the first space he toured — and that it was the perfect size but didn’t have the perfect look, SWNS reported.
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However, he’d been dreaming of turning a property into his personal “dollhouse” ever since he was a kid, he said.
“When I bought this house, I knew I wanted to use it as a landing pad for my creativity,” he said.
Jonny Carmack, pictured here, told Fox News Digital he’s grateful for the supportive online community that’s been weighing in on his colorful home. (Jonny Carmack / Fox News)
Today, after spending roughly $20,000 on renovations, Carmack has a color-filled space that is hard to miss.
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Thanks to some help from Facebook Marketplace and HomeGoods, Carmack bought unique secondhand items to turn his new space into something special.
Carmack has multiple rooms in his home that are full of colorful items. (SWNS / SWNS)
“I knew what I wanted the themes of my home to be, and now I have been finetuning them to push my personality out there more,” he told SWNS.
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Carmack has a fruit room, a bakery dining room, a blue lounge, a pink parlor, a pop art bathroom, an ice cream bathroom and more themed spaces within his Connecticut home.
The homeowner said he added over $100,000 in value to his home thanks to the colorful renovations and decorative items.
The dining room of the home features shades of green, pink and blue throughout. (SWNS / SWNS)
Carmack noted that his favorite space in the home is his kitchen.
He said it has the best lighting, and that he loves to use it for cooking and hosting.
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Carmack told Fox News Digital that his rooms were inspired by special people and places he idolized.
“Each room is designed around the vintage 1980s furniture I curated over the last 3 to 4 years,” he said. “And my biggest inspirations have been Dolly Parton, Barbie and colorful Floridian tack.”
Carmack, who moved to Connecticut a few years ago, said he’s dreamed of creating a real-life dollhouse for as long as he can remember. (SWNS / SWNS)
He also told Fox News Digital that he’d always been drawn to “dollhouse aesthetics” as a child and would often imagine himself living in such a place.
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He said, “I tried to force myself into the more tame and modern stylings as an adult and decorated many spaces in various shades of beige and white before being brave enough to go bold!”
A man has added $100,000 worth of value to his Connecticut home thanks to renovations and items he bought secondhand. (SWNS/Jonny Carmack / SWNS)
Carmack has posted about his unique space on Instagram, where he has over 177,000 followers.
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He told Fox News Digital he’s grateful to the creative community online that loves his home space as much as he does.
AAA just released their annual report on 4th of July travel. The goal of the information dump is to make folks aware of the peak (worst) travel times for holidays. Some of this is common sense and other time periods may surprise you.
Connecticut has its own quirks that need to be accounted for but the national guidelines are pretty standard across the board. Here are the Best and Worst Travel times for this coming (2024) 4th of July holiday.
Best Travel Times By Car:
- Monday July 1 – Minimal Traffic Expected All Day
- Tuesday, July 2 – Before Noon
- Wednesday, July 3 – Before Noon
- Thursday, July 4 – Before Noon
- Friday, July 5 – Before 10am
- Saturday, July 6 – Before 10am
- Sunday, July 7 – Before 11am
- Monday, July 8 – After 7pm
Worst Travel Times By Car:
- Tuesday, July 2 – 2-6pm
- Wednesday, July 3 – 2-7pm
- Thursday, July 4 – 2-7pm
- Friday, July 5 – 11am-4pm
- Saturday, July 6 – 10:30am-2:30pm
- Sunday, July 7 – 2-8pm
- Monday, July 8 – 1-5pm
I have done the 4th of July road trip so many times I can tell you horror stories that would melt your face. For many years I went to Florida for the week of the 4th of July. We would leave in the middle of the night, 2am, 3am, 4am. The years we fooled ourselves into thinking any kind of day driving would be OK, became a nightmare. Even if you leave at 6am, you hit monstrous traffic in the Washington D.C. area that brings you to a standstill for hours.
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Do yourself a favor, no matter which direction you are headed, take the AAA numbers and get even more extreme. If you can embark at 2am, you should. Happy 4th of July in advance, it is the single-greatest holiday we all celebrate.
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