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Dancing Dolls
By Wauwatosa Public Library
Friday, Oct 3 2008, 02:19 PM
Artists and scientists have long been fascinated with the idea of creating mechanical beings that imitate humans. The Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatea and the Jewish myth of clay golems are just two examples of life given to inanimate objects.
The science of robotics goes back to at least the Middle Ages. Al-Jazari, an Arab scholar and engineer, is credited with inventing the first robot, an automated humanoid waitress, in 1206. In 1770, Wolfgang von Kempelen amazed Europeans with his invention called “The Mechanical Turk”, a chess playing automaton who played and defeated such famous people as Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin. It was a cleverly constructed machine controlled by a person.
Ballet audiences are delighted by the robotic dancing of doll characters. Coppelia, in a ballet by the same name, is a life-sized dancing doll invented by the mysterious Dr. Coppelius. This humorous ballet was adapted from a sinister story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Sandman, in which the main character suffers mental anguish when he learns that the girl he loves is a machine. In another adaptation of a Hoffmann story, the Milwaukee Ballet’s Nutcracker has two dancing dolls, gifts from Herr Drosselmeyer to Fritz and Clara. The latest Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, attests to the enduring popularity of stories featuring automatons.
The Milwaukee Ballet will present Marius and the Magnificent Dancing Doll Shoppe on Saturday, November 1st from 1:30-2:15 p.m. in the Civic Center Auditorium. This program is recommended for kindergartners through 8th graders. To register or for more information, please call the Wauwatosa Public Library, Children’s Department at 414-471-8486.
