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Act 1

In an alpine village at the beginning of Spring, Swanhilda is a happy, smart young woman. She loves to dance and play with her friends.

It is the morning of the Spring Festival, and her friends are busy with their chores and school work. Swanhilda dances alone and notices a new girl at the house of Dr. Coppelius, the grumpy and mysterious toymaker.

Swanhilda asks "Coppelia" if she'd like to play. The new girl only reads her book and stares. Swanhilda gets frustrated and loses her temper.

When her best friends -- Franzisca, Frieda, Friederike, and Fritzi-- appear, Swanhilda is upset that they only pay attention to Coppelia. They have fallen under the spell of Dr. Coppelius and believe that Coppelia is their new best friend.

Swanhilda tries to distract her friends. They have fun dancing together, showing off with difficult movements, fancy footwork, and playing "follow the leader."

When Dr Coppelius drops the key to his house by accident, Swanhilda hatches a plan to sneak into the toymaker's workshop. Afraid of what she might discover, Swanhilda guides her friends towards adventure.

Act 2

Swanhilda and her friends creep nervously into Coppelius' mysterious workshop. They find the courage to explore, and they figure out that Coppelia is only a mechanical doll, not a real friend. Now they can enjoy this discovery, and they play with all the wonders of the workshop.

When Coppelius arrives and finds the friends, he is furious that they have intruded and tinkered with his precious creations. He chases Friederike and Fritzi away, but Swanhilda, Franzisca, and Frieda hide from him. They dance along with Coppelius' most lifelike dolls: Coppelia, the Spanish Doll, and the Scottish Doll.

Coppelius is enthralled by his dancing dolls and does not notice that Swanhilda and her friends are still playing around. When he discovers them, he is very angry, and they run to escape the workshop. 

Left alone, Coppelius feels lonely. Though his doll creations are beautiful and let him play tricks on the villagers, he understands now that he needs real friends. He hopes to celebrate with the villagers at the Spring Festival this afternoon.

Act 3

The Spring Festival begins, and youngest villagers have the thoughtful idea to ask Dr. Coppelius to join them. He is overjoyed and watches the dancing that celebrates the everyday life of the village.

Wearing their festival dresses, Swanhilda and her friends dance the Waltz of the Hours, representing the 12 hours of the clock. The bright colors of Dawn leap and turn in a Morning Celebration. The gentle colors of Twilight float and glide in an Evening Celebration.

Swanhilda dances a joyful Friendship Celebration, and the whole village comes together to honor Spring, a season of peace and understanding.