Onegin - National Ballet of Canada 2023

[Darnedshoes]

Hello! I'm new here - I hope it's OK to post about performances outside Europe. The only review that I've seen of the National Ballet of Canada's current Onegin run that I've seen was a rather mediocre one by the Globe and Mail (in Links, November) so I thought I'd bring some balance by sharing my own more positive impression.

 

I watched NBoC perform Onegin last Saturday afternoon. It was my first time watching the whole ballet live.  I had booked last-minute young person's rush tickets without checking the cast, so I was pleasantly surprised to find Svetlana Lunkina dancing Tatiana.  She suited the role perfectly and gave a compelling portrayal both as a romantically naive teenager and a mature noblewoman. My friend who I'd dragged along to watch a ballet for their first time was shocked to learn Lunkina's actual age. Her Onegin was surprisingly a second soloist, Larkin Miller - tall with nice lines and good partnering skills, but who I felt could have added more nuance to his character. He looked suitably arrogant and haughty in the first two acts, and desperate in the third. However, surely Onegin needs something besides a grumpy face to generate an attraction strong enough to be rekindled decades later? I feel there needs to be a sense that a relationship could have been possible in Act 1, but scuppered by Onegin's immaturity, in order for Tatiana to actually feel such internal conflict in Act 3. Projecting chemistry and disinterest at the same time is definitely a bit of a challenge. Maybe because the characterisation of Onegin was unclear, I felt the ballet became ultimately about Tatiana's personal evolution.

 

Siphesihle November (brother of Mthuthuseli) was technically solid as Lenski - stable in his turn-filled solos, partnering Olga (Tirion Law) quite well despite his small stature (making tall Onegin look a real bully in the birthday party scene) and displaying sincere pathos in the pre-duel solo. The corps drew much applause during their supported grand jetes in Act 1. I enjoyed the music, especially the woodwind (I used to play the flute). As a lover of (melo)dramatic ballets, I came away quite happy indeed and have hopefully succeeded in converting my fellow young friend to the joy of the artform

 

By the way, I don't understand the G&M article's criticism that Onegin somehow is a poor programming choice in light of MeToo and the Russia-Ukraine war (or furthermore that it should be 'tweaked' - this is not a thing for neoclassical ballet). First, Onegin shows a completely different type of bad male behaviour; second, this is a ballet created by a South African-British choreographer on a German company about a domestic melodrama...

 

[Sophoife]

Thank you @Darnedshoes for the review - and I completely agree with your final paragraph!

 

What an opportunity for the young Onegin to dance with Lunkina! You may or may not be aware that the Cranko stagers reserve the right to casting, and have been known to both throw out a company's suggestions and to cast dancers companies don't necessarily want to bring to prominence, so it's a compliment to him he was cast - especially with her. He can only benefit from the experience, really.

[bridiem]

3 hours ago, Darnedshoes said:

Hello! I'm new here - I hope it's OK to post about performances outside Europe. The only review that I've seen of the National Ballet of Canada's current Onegin run that I've seen was a rather mediocre one by the Globe and Mail (in Links, November) so I thought I'd bring some balance by sharing my own more positive impression.

 

I watched NBoC perform Onegin last Saturday afternoon. It was my first time watching the whole ballet live.  I had booked last-minute young person's rush tickets without checking the cast, so I was pleasantly surprised to find Svetlana Lunkina dancing Tatiana.  She suited the role perfectly and gave a compelling portrayal both as a romantically naive teenager and a mature noblewoman. My friend who I'd dragged along to watch a ballet for their first time was shocked to learn Lunkina's actual age. Her Onegin was surprisingly a second soloist, Larkin Miller - tall with nice lines and good partnering skills, but who I felt could have added more nuance to his character. He looked suitably arrogant and haughty in the first two acts, and desperate in the third. However, surely Onegin needs something besides a grumpy face to generate an attraction strong enough to be rekindled decades later? I feel there needs to be a sense that a relationship could have been possible in Act 1, but scuppered by Onegin's immaturity, in order for Tatiana to actually feel such internal conflict in Act 3. Projecting chemistry and disinterest at the same time is definitely a bit of a challenge. Maybe because the characterisation of Onegin was unclear, I felt the ballet became ultimately about Tatiana's personal evolution.

 

Siphesihle November (brother of Mthuthuseli) was technically solid as Lenski - stable in his turn-filled solos, partnering Olga (Tirion Law) quite well despite his small stature (making tall Onegin look a real bully in the birthday party scene) and displaying sincere pathos in the pre-duel solo. The corps drew much applause during their supported grand jetes in Act 1. I enjoyed the music, especially the woodwind (I used to play the flute). As a lover of (melo)dramatic ballets, I came away quite happy indeed and have hopefully succeeded in converting my fellow young friend to the joy of the artform

 

By the way, I don't understand the G&M article's criticism that Onegin somehow is a poor programming choice in light of MeToo and the Russia-Ukraine war (or furthermore that it should be 'tweaked' - this is not a thing for neoclassical ballet). First, Onegin shows a completely different type of bad male behaviour; second, this is a ballet created by a South African-British choreographer on a German company about a domestic melodrama...

 

Thank you for this really interesting review, Darnedshoes! And I completely agree with your final paragraph.

[Jan McNulty]

Hello @Darnedshoes and welcome to the Forum!

 

We love to hear about companies all over the world!!  

 

Thank you so much for your review of Onegin.  I do hope you continue to post about any other performances you see by any ballet/dance company!

 

(There's a review from Backtrack in Today's links)

[Sim]

Hi @Darnedshoes and thank you for your lovely review, which I hope will be the first of many!  We especially love hearing about ballets from outside of Europe.  

 

I also agree with your last paragraph and fail to see how Onegin would 'offend' anyone.  What's it got to do with metoo, or even the invasion of Ukraine?  Just because it is based on a Russian tone poem, written long before what is happening now?  And how does 'metoo' come into it?  Because a man is nasty to a woman?  Oooo, that never happens... if programming of art stopped because of that, our culture would be quite bare.  Do they think that by cancelling such things we can pretend they never happened, or indeed aren't still happening?  And how exactly would the G&M critic like Cranko's masterpiece to be tweaked?  Remove everything that creates the drama and tension?  [I can't read the review as it's behind a paywall, but the headline calling it a 'stale storyline' indicates to me that it's best I can't read it!]  

 

Today's Bachtrack review is very positive and concentrates on the artistry.

[Sabine0308]

@Darnedshoes thank you for your report, I really appreciate it to read about this performance. As for your last paragraph: I'm so tired of all the artificial political correctness for classical ballet. Nobody can re-write history. And a fairytale (e.g. Bayadere, dropped by our company administration in Berlin) is a fairytale. Ballet audience is usually not stupid and knows historical context, also for Onegin!

[Darnedshoes]

Thanks everybody for the warm welcome! I'm glad my review is of interest ☺️ 

I studied in the UK for a couple of years and used to go to the ballet more often in those days. Over here it's trickier to do so without hopping on a plane, so I feel especially lucky at getting to finally see Onegin.

20 hours ago, Sophoife said:

Thank you @Darnedshoes for the review - and I completely agree with your final paragraph!

 

What an opportunity for the young Onegin to dance with Lunkina! You may or may not be aware that the Cranko stagers reserve the right to casting, and have been known to both throw out a company's suggestions and to cast dancers companies don't nuecessarily want to bring to prominence, so it's a compliment to him he was cast - especially with her. He can only benefit from the experience, really.

Thank you for the information, I didn't know that. It's nice in a way that the Cranko stagers can provide that external appraisal of dancers that might otherwise be overlooked by management. For a young first-timer in such a major role I think Miller did a very good job - perhaps we'll see more of him soon

 

15 hours ago, Sim said:

Today's Bachtrack review is very positive and concentrates on the artistry.

Yay, I'm glad for this! That review sounds much more like what I was seeing.