Last week I went to see the English National Ballet and English National Ballet School’s production of Coppélia at The Peacock Theatre in London with ‘I’ aged 11 years old and ‘M’ aged 6 years old. This is the third time we have seen one of their productions especially aimed at younger children. These ballets aim to bring ballet to younger audiences which is fun and easy to understand.

In this performance Dr Coppélius narrated which made it very easy to follow, having seen a full length version of this ballet I know it is not that easy to follow if you don’t know the story, so this was very helpful. M isn’t usually a great fan of theatre so I was not sure how much he would enjoy this ballet however he was mesmerised; I was so thrilled to see him laughing and smiling and really enjoying it.

The set was stunning, there was no scrimping here, and the costumes whilst not as ‘pretty’ as ones you might get in Cinderella, for instance, they were in keeping with the traditional story set in a Polish village. The story is about the mayor’s daughter Swanhilda and her fiancé Franz who falls in love with another girl; Coppélia who is in fact a mechanical doll made by Dr Coppélius.

I have to say this was probably my favourite ‘My First Ballet’ production, it was really engaging and I preferred the way the narrator was incorporated into the performance rather than on the edge of it as in previous ones I have seen. It kept both the attention of both children throughout although I think some younger children around us were getting a little restless for the last ten minutes.

My First Ballet: Coppélia is on at the Peacock Theatre until 19th April and then is on tour around the country until the end of May. A family of four ticket costs £55 for the Peacock Theatre but other tickets start at £8 dependent on venue, and the ballet is recommended for children over the age of three. For further information and tickets go to Ballet.org.

I would recommend this highly for any young fans of ballet, it really is a great production.