Ballet students to go the distance at UNLV program

Grace, beauty, style and skill -- junior division.

Report to the stage, kids.

"They're students, but they're high caliber," says Anna Lantz, principal of the Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre, whose tender-age troupers, ages 8 to 18, will mark a milestone in their artistic development when they dance their first full-length ballet in its entirety Saturday, performing "Coppelia" at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"It's easy for the students to understand, because it is funny and light and it's a classic. Good music, good choreography, not a tragedy."

Presented by students of the pre-professional program as the centerpiece of the academy's spring concert that also includes two other dance performances, "Coppelia," which was first performed in 1870, is a sentimental comic ballet somewhat influenced by the traveling shows of the late-18th and early-19th centuries.

Plot? Mysterious Dr. Coppelius invents a life-size dancing doll that catches the interest of Franz, a village swain who is lured away from his true love, Swanhilde, who then exposes Franz's foolishness by dressing as Coppelius' mechanical contraption and pretending to come to life.

" 'Coppelia' has something for everybody," Lantz says about the piece based on stories by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann. "It's a very nice story, not only good for the students who perform it, but it's very family-friendly and easy to understand."

Arthur Saint-Leon created "Coppelia's" original choreography, with a ballet libretto by Sant-Leon and Charles Nuitter and music composed by Leo Delibes.

"We have eight ballet levels, and we had to find roles for each level," Lantz says, stressing the educational value of challenging students to perform a full-length ballet. "It requires more rehearsing, but they get a good education in the entire process and the music that goes through the entire ballet. They get to know the composer, and they get to work with each other, not just one number on and off, but the whole story."

All dancers to the stage, kids.

Deep breath. ...

You're going the distance.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.