Coppélia, created in Paris in 1870 to the exquisite music of Leo Delibes, tells the story of an old and eccentric toymaker, Dr Coppélius, who is tricked by Swanhilda and her friends into believing that he has brought his most beautiful creation, the doll Coppélia, to life.  He breathes air into her sawdust lungs, a beat into her wooden heart and life into her mechanical limbs.  But his fantasy is soon shattered when the full truth of the trick played on him dawns.  Generations of dancers have been challenged by the roles of Swanhilda, Franz and above all, Dr Coppélius, for the technical and dramatic demands they make.  The setting is the colourful Galician countryside which provides the perfect setting for a story of love, deceit and cruelty.  But in the end all is forgiven and the villagers as well as the older and wiser Dr Coppélius go on their happily-ever-after way.