Denver Ballet Coppélia Field Trip

One beautiful part of homeschooling is providing opportunities for our children that they may not otherwise get the chance to experience. A difficult part of homeschooling is that some opportunities are costly and many families are homeschooling on a single income.

For the final dress rehearsal before the shows open, Denver Ballet hosts a student matinee for schools and invites homeschooling families and co-ops to be included. Tickets cost $20 and require a minimum group of 10 people in order to apply.

After asking if anyone local on Instagram would be interested in attending the ballet as part of our group, we were able to get enough friends to join our group.

Working with Denver Ballet was a fairly simple process. The coordinator for field trips was exceptionally professional and kind when working out ticket changes that we needed.

I was surprised to find out that we had excellent seats! Our group was seated in the Parterre and had an excellent view of the stage. Coppélia is an exceptionally funny ballet. The dancers tell the story of two lovers, Franz and Swanhilda who live in an Austrian village. When Franz notices a beautiful girl on a balcony he begins to flirt with her. Little does he know the girl he’s blowing kisses to is a doll.

I was blown away by the talent of the dancers. Their acting skills were impeccable and all of the kids were captivated, including my 4 year old son.

Preparing For The Ballet

Before the ballet, the field trip coordinator sent an email with behavior expectations for the students, information about the ballet, and videos to watch in preparation. I thought this was incredibly helpful and got my kids excited for the show.

We also used parts of the Classical Ballet Unit Study by Faith Heritage Learning Co. We studied the story line of Coppélia, the biographies of the composer and coregropher, and added important dates in our timeline. My 4th grader also wrote a short narration in her journal. We had considered purchasing a copy of ETA Hoffman’s original story but it was incredibly expensive.

Additional Connections

After the ballet I asked my daughter if watching Coppélia reminded her of anything and I was surprised at her answer. She drew from several examples in literature.

She referenced Pinocchio and how he becomes a real boy at the end. The beginning of Pandora, when she appears as a statue. She also brought up Pygmalion, the story of the man who fell in love with the statue he created. Although the doll maker in Coppélia was unable to bring his doll to life, I thought her references were well thought out.

We’re excited for the next season of shows at Denver Ballet. Our home is to continue to get together with members of the homeschool community to come together so we can enjoy the shows together. If you’re local to Denver and would like to be added to the list for future ballets, please email me at beth@littleworldwanderers.com