Coppélia on the Crawley stage

Spokeswoman Lorraine McGregor said: “This November there will be three performances of EYB’s charming and colourful ballet Coppélia at The Hawth. The humorous production will star six international principal dancers and showcase the talents of 100 young dancers from the local area.” Tickets are available at hawth.co.uk and by calling the box office on 01293 553636 (Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm).

“The story of Coppélia follows the escapades of the dreamy Franz and how he comically falls in love with a beautiful, life-like doll. The doll Coppélia is created by the eccentric, yet mysterious inventor Dr Coppelius. The hilarious plot thickens when Franz’s jealous lover Swanhilda takes her friends on an adventure into the spooky house of the inventor to confront her rival. Of course, the story ends happily after the truth is uncovered. The whole town joins the most extravagant wedding celebration for the smitten Franz and Swanhilda.”

The cast were selected in a big audition on stage at The Hawth in July. More than 200 young dancers attended for the opportunity. They all took part in a full ballet class on the stage. The successful auditionees found out that they had been selected on the day of the audition.

“The young cast will have rehearsed for 60 hours over ten days of rehearsals at weekends. The rehearsals take place at Reigate School. At rehearsals, the dancers experience the working life of a professional dancer. EYB use three large rehearsal spaces in the school simultaneously. Rehearsals always start with three company classes for the dancers to warm-up. The dancers need to keep track of the complex rehearsal timetable throughout the day.”

Janet Lewis, EYB director, said: “English Youth Ballet’s aim is to provide performance experience to aspiring young dancers in beautiful venues close to where they live. The young dancers get to experience what life is like in a professional ballet company. They learn about developing their artistic and performance skills.”