“Coppélia”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
February 21, 2026 (evening performance)
by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf
My hopes on a new video release were raised when I noticed the cameraman at the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of Coppélia, until he explained that the recording was for internal use only. It’ll set the bar high for future generations of dancers.
Sergei Vikharev’s production, which he said is the most complete and exact rendition of what Nicholas Sergeyev noted from his St. Petersburg memories (his manuscripts are stored at Harvard University), has been in the Bolshoi’s repertory since 2009. It preserves all the details that fell victim to artistic, financial, and producing conditions in many Western stagings. Continue reading “The Benchmark”