alison Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I'm starting a different thread for this question, since I want to take it beyond the Royal Ballet's dancers, but I'm getting quite curious about Onegin's Act I, Scene 1 solo (the one where he spends much of it with the back of one hand to his forehead) - and maybe the action that surrounds it - and differing interpretations. My original impression of it was that Onegin was just very much self-absorbed, and enmired (is that a word?) in his own ennui, but some recent dancers seem to have expanded it rather beyond that - or was I wrong in the first place? I haven't seen many casts in the current RB revival yet, so may expand on this later when I've had a chance to think it over more. What's your take on the solo, and what do you think it's expressing? *Does* it vary significantly between dancers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoriapage Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) Do you mean Lensky's solo? must confess to only seeing this once, however. Edited February 9, 2015 by victoriapage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 No Victoria, Alison means Onegin's solo in Act 1 when he is alone with Tatiana, and she watches this solo and tries to connect with him, but he is too self-engrossed for whatever reason... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 he's probably wondering if his horse won the 2.30 at Ascot... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Alison, that's how I've always taken it too. I've seldom seen the RB production but have seen Onegin performed by a number of companies over the years and that is how it has always come across to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterankles Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Johan Kobborg gave a wonderful interpretation of this solo and the whole ballet. Clearly he was a man with a past that haunted him, there were reasons why he was so self absorbed and arrogant. As always with Johan (also and even as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake), he found many nuances and interesting features to make what are often, even usually, rather two dimensional characters, have enormous depth. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Yes, I agree Kobborg is a superb dance actor, he never just dances the steps but searches for the meaning behind them. My Onegin watching goes back a long way and I even saw the original cast, but Kobborg's performance in the role was for me one of the very greatest. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 He is definitely one of the best Onegins I've ever seen. Come to think of it, he's one of the best many things I've ever seen. I can't imagine that he and Alina in Onegin will ever be surpassed. I still get goosebumps and shivers thinking of those performances. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Alison, that's how I've always taken it too. I've seldom seen the RB production but have seen Onegin performed by a number of companies over the years and that is how it has always come across to me. Thanks, Janet. Anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I agree he is away in his own impenetrable world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Yes, but is that all? In this run, I've been finding that some of them seem to be sizing Tatiana up as potential marriage material as well, almost wondering if she might be the one to bring him out of himself, which I don't remember from previous seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 When a man eyes a woman up, it isn't necessarily marriage on his mind. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Oh, I know, but in this case I did get the feeling in some performances that he was looking at her and wondering whether he could be happy with her, and whether she could cure his state of mind, and probably coming down on the side of "No". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I have found this thread and the other thread on Onegin fascinating for the discussions on the interpretation of the various characters and what drives their behaviour. I don't remember having so much discussion about any other ballet recently. The source material seems to provide a lot of scope for this. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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