"Coppélia" is a rare case when a serious 19th-century ballet turns out to be pure comedy. Doctor Coppelius builds a mechanical doll so lifelike that young Franz falls in love with it; his fiancée Swanilda disguises herself as the doll and drives the old inventor to tears. The music was written by Léo Delibes in 1870, and the ballet has never left the world's stages since.
On 22 and 23 October 2026 the Mariinsky Theatre performs "Coppélia" at the New Stage — the Mariinsky-2, the building across the Kryukov Canal from the historic theatre.
About the production
"Coppélia" runs at the Mariinsky in Sergei Vikharev's choreography after the classical staging by Marius Petipa and Enrico Cecchetti. The scenery is a reconstruction of the late-19th-century Imperial stage design: a bright Balkan village in act one, the inventor's workshop in act two, a village wedding in act three.
This is one of those rare ballets that work equally well for adults and children from seven years old: the plot is clear, the music is familiar, and the dances of the dolls and villagers come often enough that children do not get bored.
Mariinsky-2 auditorium. Photo: MBH, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Which stage: the New one, not the historic one
Mind the venue: tickets for 22–23 October are for the New Stage of the Mariinsky, the Mariinsky-2, 34 Dekabristov Street. It is a glass building from 2013 across from the old theatre. Visitors regularly confuse the stages and run to the old one — they just make it across the Kryukov Canal, only to miss the first act.
Landmarks: from Sadovaya or Sennaya Ploshchad metro stations it is a 12–15-minute walk through Yusupov Garden and Repin Square. Alternatively, bus #3 goes from Nevsky Prospekt to Repin Square.
