Kaatsbaan Cultural Park will present Ballez: Travesty Doll Play (after Coppélia) on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. The performance takes place inside the Black Box Theater at 120 Broadway in Tivoli, New York, as part of the venue’s 2026 Annual Festival. Individual tickets start at $25 for general admission and $15 for students, with multi-performance combo packages also available.

The dance work offers a choreographic reimagining of the 1870 story ballet about an eccentric toymaker and a lifelike mechanical doll. The production explores the relationship between creator and creation while highlighting themes of connection, endurance, and transformation. Accompanying the dancers is a live original score composed by Lavinia Eloise Bruce and Scott Killian.

This presentation marks the first time the ballet has been performed live since its 2024 premiere in New York City, following a feature in a PBS documentary. The piece was created by Ballez, a company founded in 2011 by choreographer and educator Kade Pyle. The organization centers its creative practice and performances on trans, non-binary, and genderqueer dancers.

Ballez has previously produced three other full-length story ballets, including The Firebird, a Ballez, Sleeping Beauty & the Beast, and Giselle of Loneliness. The company has earned grant support from organizations such as NYSCA, the Harkness Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation, alongside completing creative residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Gibney, and the MTA. Pyle currently serves on the faculty at Eugene Lang College, Marymount Manhattan College, and Gibney Dance.

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park occupies a 153-acre site along the Hudson River, providing artist residencies and public events across dance, theater, music, film, and visual arts. Facilities at the complex include production studios, artist accommodations, an indoor theater, and outdoor performance spaces.