Anna Faltermeier/Sun News Aimi Hammann, left, Laura Dyer, center, and Hannah Horowitz examine a dancer’s worn down shoe during a dress rehearsal for “Copp©lia” June 21 at Ballet North in Kansas City. The ballet is about a life-size doll, “Copp©lia,” and two young lovers, Swanilda and Franz. The performance will be Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13, at the Kansas City Music Hall.
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‘The perfect summer ballet’
Full-length ballet to be performed July 12 and 13 at Kansas City Music Hall
Boy meets girl. Boy flirts with doll. Girl gets angry. Drama and dancing ensue. “Coppélia” is your typical love story and then some.
About 30 dancers from Ballet North, a studio in Kansas City, will perform the full-length ballet at the Kansas City Music Hall on Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13.
“It’s the perfect summer ballet,” said Ballet North instructor Laura Reinschmidt. “It’s a fun comedy.”
Several local high school students and a few middle school students will perform the ballet.
Aimi Hammann, a recent Park Hill High School graduate, and Tara Skorupa, recent North Kansas City High School graduate, share the lead part of Swanilda.
Both girls say acting was the biggest challenge for them with this particular ballet.
“It’s difficult to act off of something that doesn’t act back to you,” Hammann said. “We were the stepsisters in ‘Cinderella’ last year and were able to act off one another, but when you’re acting off of a doll that doesn’t respond to you, it’s more difficult.”
Aside from the hours of ballet practice during the week, dancers in “Coppélia” have practiced every Saturday since February for four hours a day.
“It kills sometimes, but that’s OK,” Hammann said, with a smile when asked about dancing en pointe for hours at a time.
For the dancers, the work pays off in the end.
“Once you’re on stage, you’re just enjoying it,” Skorupa said.
Tickets for “Coppélia” are on sale at the music hall box office.
— Anna Faltermeier
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About 30 dancers from Ballet North, a studio in Kansas City, will perform the full-length ballet at the Kansas City Music Hall on Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13.
“It’s the perfect summer ballet,” said Ballet North instructor Laura Reinschmidt. “It’s a fun comedy.”
Several local high school students and a few middle school students will perform the ballet.
Aimi Hammann, a recent Park Hill High School graduate, and Tara Skorupa, recent North Kansas City High School graduate, share the lead part of Swanilda.
Both girls say acting was the biggest challenge for them with this particular ballet.
“It’s difficult to act off of something that doesn’t act back to you,” Hammann said. “We were the stepsisters in ‘Cinderella’ last year and were able to act off one another, but when you’re acting off of a doll that doesn’t respond to you, it’s more difficult.”
Aside from the hours of ballet practice during the week, dancers in “Coppélia” have practiced every Saturday since February for four hours a day.
“It kills sometimes, but that’s OK,” Hammann said, with a smile when asked about dancing en pointe for hours at a time.
For the dancers, the work pays off in the end.
“Once you’re on stage, you’re just enjoying it,” Skorupa said.
Tickets for “Coppélia” are on sale at the music hall box office.
— Anna Faltermeier