EMOTIONAL ADVENTURE
National Ballet’s Onegin
The National Ballet of Canada’s Onegin took the audience in Southam Hall Thursday night on a complex emotional and psychological adventure.
Choreographed in 1965 for the Stuttgart Ballet, John Cranko’s Onegin is based on the 19thcentury Russian classic Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin. The expressively choreographed piece features a large variety of dance styles — everything from ballroom to acrobatic. Cranko’s creation features strong themes of love, rejection and jealousy and is easily one of the most evocative narrative ballets in the classical repertoire.
The National Ballet of Canada is renowned for its diverse repertoire. It performs traditional fulllength classics, embraces contemporary works, and encourages the creation of new ballets as well as the development of Canadian choreographers. It was founded in 1951 by Celia Franca and now has 70 dancers as well as its own orchestra. Led by artistic director Karen Kain, one of the greatest ballerinas of her generation, the National Ballet is one of the top ballet companies in the world.
Onegin tells the tale of Eugene Onegin, a Russian aristocrat plagued by ennui, who meets Tatiana, an innocent girl with wild romantic fantasies. She falls in love with the elegant stranger. He regards her as naive and uninteresting and swiftly rejects her. Years later, Onegin encounters Tatiana, but she is an elegant princess who is much more worldly and self-possessed. He finds himself genuinely in love with her, but she sends him away forever.
The production is set to music by Tchaikovsky, a classical composer in the Romantic period. This particular score is much darker than his typical compositions and features mesmerizing piano opuses and orchestral pieces.
Xiao Nan Yu’s performance as Tatiana was spectacular. She adds a personal touch to each of her performances and Onegin is no exception. Each dance sequence forced viewers to experience her hardships as if they were their own. She distinguished herself as a dancer with strong technique and emotional depth.
McGee Maddox as Eugene Onegin was just as captivating. His stage presence and ensembles were commanding. His emotions and thoughts translated well into each movement; his pirouettes were flawless. Maddox forced the audience to empathize with him and kept them invested in this tale of unhappily-ever-after.
Harrison James, as Lensky, perfectly executed his role as a reckless romantic through his expressive port de bras and Jillian Vanstone’s performance as Olga was exhilarating. The subtle articulation of her head and neck, the endless energy in each of her movements — all contributed to her young, mischievous character.
The rest of the cast was wonderful, as well. For the most part, the sequences were fluid and synchronized. There were a few portions where subtle mistakes were made and quickly corrected for the next repetition. The sets and lighting set the atmosphere of each location splendidly, and the costumes featured Russian-inspired colours and patterns of the era.
The National Ballet’s Onegin steals your heart and forces you to experience insatiable love and cruel rejection in such waves that you will be in tears by the time the curtain drops. ecimesa@postmedia.com