Chance to work on creating the new version of ballet Coppelia coming to Eden Court on Thursday was exciting for Scottish Ballet principal Bruno Micchiardi
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There are many reasons Scottish Ballet dancer Bruno Micchiardi will remember the company’s latest production Coppelia.
Back at the start of planning the update of the traditional ballet about a dollmaker Dr Coppelius, his life-size mechanical doll and the tricks a young couple played on him, Bruno was involved with the choreographers Jess & Morgs in creating the character.
So he has influenced the way this contemporary reboot using film alongside the onstage performance portrays Dr Coppelius, an inventor and the CEO of a Silicon Valley company using artificial intelligence to create bots and clones.
For Bruno helping create the character of the revamped Dr Coppelius has been exciting, as the choreographers known as Jess & Morgs (Morgann Runacre-Temple and Jessica Wright) involved him from the earliest stages of research and development in creating the ballet with film at its core.
“He is not featured that much in the traditional ballet, but in this production Jess & Morgs have turned him into a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk type character,” Bruno said.
A recent newspaper article highlighted the way the top tech company CEOs spent working on ripped bodies and six-packs, matching perfect bodies to controlling cutting-edge multi-billion businesses.
“There is an actual workout scene with Dr Coppelius and he is like the new stereotype of a CEO.
“He is a bit of a narcissist, but also - at the same time - with a bit of disarming charm.
“The choreographers put a lot of trust in me and basically said ‘Have a look at the character’ and I tried to add as much depth and background as I could.
“They have made him larger than life, somewhat unlikeable, I think, at the start - he goes through a real character arc during the ballet. But he is fun to play, with all the stuff that makes him a three-dimensional character.”
Bruno has enjoyed how much he has been able to be involved in the evolving production from the start.
“Jess & Morgs, the way they work is very collaborative.
“I’ve worked with them on a couple of Scottish Ballet films we did, Tremble and ~The Secret Theatre.
“Every time they came up to me and said ‘This is the vision we have – take it and run!’
“This time, because it is such a big production there was so much that needed doing and they also really allowed me to collaborate in movement as well which was wonderful because I really feel that Dr Coppelius really sits in how I like to move.
“Also I feel that together we kind of have the best of both worlds.
“They have got their choreographic creative juices flowing and I can contribute, do a little hand gesture here, say, and felt I was becoming the character long before we were on stage.
“I love how Jess & Morgs make you feel totally involved.”
Working with film alongside performing in stage brings opportunities and challenges, Bruno confirmed.
“What we are doing is quite new I would say, I have seen other people try and touch on it a little bit but not to the extent that we have taken it.
“I do think it is a bit of a challenge to adjust to the fact that you are not just performing to the audience where you have to kind of exaggerate everything, but also you have a camera in front of you so you are trying to add nuance and subtlety for that and to make this balance between performing out to a large audience and also for the camera.
“I’m not going to lie – I kind of love it!
“When I’m onstage, I try and add little quirks and mannerisms that can be missed.
“But when you have a camera in front of you, it almost demands the flick of an eyebrow or a little grimace.
“I really enjoy that aspect of it I really think it adds a totally new level to the performance.”
Work started on the production over 10 months ago, Bruno revealed.
“It started off with myself and Rimbaud Patron [dancer and photographer who films the show live onstage those real-time images appearing as part of the multi-media approach] with another dancer and Jess & Morggs with a massive screen in the technical department and we literally worked on one scene for about a month.
“Obviously with cameras there are things like delays and framing to think about and so, though we started a while ago, it was slow at first because it was all so new and original.
“For all of us it was a kind of adjustment to learn.
“Rimbaud is incredible with the camera, I think it’s an absolute testament that onstage he doesn’t look like he is holding a camera, he looks like one of the dancers.”
It has been a really exciting experience for Bruno – and reviews have suggested that his performance more than lives up to this potential role of a lifetime.
But it is also a landmark in his career for another reason. He has just been promoted to the title of principal by Scottish Ballet.
And it proved a dramatic moment as such things are done onstage in front of everyone – and for Bruno, it couldn’t have been more of a surprise.
Speaking before the ballet arrives in Inverness, Bruno said: “You don’t have someone asking you to come to the office. It happens at the end of the performance. You do your bows as normal and then the company director Christopher Hampson walks onstage. This time I thought he was coming on to speak about the work we were doing and this ballet, so I really was caught out. It genuinely was a complete moment of shock. There is a video online of my reaction, I said when I saw it that I look as if I’m lost at an airport! I was totally surprised.”
The recognition also came at the perfect time, as Bruno’s mum had come over from Spain to see the show again, though she had seen it with Bruno’s dad when it had premiered at the Edinburgh Festival earlier this summer, but had wanted to see it again.
“It was lovely that Mum was in the audience as well.”
Scottish Ballet's new production of Coppelia created with choreographer team Jess & Morggs, is on at Eden Court from Thursday-Saturday, October 6 to 8. There is a pre-performance talk on Friday at 6.30pm, and after the show, stay on to join members of Scottish Ballet's artistic team and dancers for a free 20-minute Q&A session. This session will be BSL Interpreted. Then, on Saturday at 1pm there is a touch tour, phone the theatre to book. And the matinee performance on Saturday at 2.30pm will be audio-described.
More info: eden-court.co.uk and https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/
