Long before Julie "Catwoman" Newmar played a robot in the short-lived '60s TV sitcom My Living Doll (episodes of which have just been released on DVD, if you're into that sort of thing), another, different kind of mechanized gal was breaking somebody's heart. Her name? Coppélia.

She was the creation of one toymaker/mad scientist (aren't they all?), Dr. Coppélius. Both  characters originated in an 1870 romantic comic ballet titled Coppélia, written by maestro Arthur Saint-Léon (who also did the choreography) and Charles Nuitter, with music by Léo Delibes.

This weekend, the beautiful automaton that Saint-Léon and Nuitter built comes back to life in the Miami City Ballet's revival of Coppélia, which caps the company's 26th season.