California Beaches Blog

Beautiful autumn rings in the ballet season in California. The schools and ballet companies take summer breaks from their performance schedules but come October, ballet season is upon us. The all-time favorite ballet is The Nutcracker held usually November through December. But leading up to that holiday favorite, many ballet companies produce one or two ballets beforehand, plus several ballets afterward during the winter and spring.

A production company I have followed for several years just sent me their ballet season line-up and announced that Ballet San Jose will present Coppélia as their premier show Oct. 3-11. It will feature the incredible talents of Dennis Nahat, a world class choreographer.  Dennis Nahat’s version of Coppélia, like most contemporary settings of the ballet, is based quite loosely upon Saint-Léon’s original intent.  Nahat’s Coppélia was first performed by Cleveland Ballet on October 16, 1981 at the Hanna Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio.

Ballet San Jose is recognized as one of California’s and the nation’s leading ballet companies, and their high-tech Silicon Valley location draws the talents of lighting and stage technical talents who enhance beautiful costumes and movements  with dramatic colors and accents timed perfectly. You don’t have to love ballet to appreciate the pageantry of these productions, though the dancers and guest artists really make it happen.

To plan a San Jose day or weekend escape, just book a flight (around an hour from most California cities), hop aboard the rail system, check into a hotel downtown  and have fun! During the  weekend of Oct. 10 the hotel rates at my favorite hotel, Marriott,  are currently costing around $130 for one night, $100 less than the previous week in which the ballet premiers.