Onegin is about living with the decisions that you've made regardless of their consequences. Pushkin's famous poem, Eugene Onegin, on which this ballet is based, delves into the noble feelings of honor and pride, the difficult sorrow that sometimes comes after having made eternal vows, and the inability to back down from challenges that have been thrown at you in haste or those which you, yourself, have thrown – "But the world's savage indoctrination fears the false shame of reconciliation." It's a terrific poem that has a terrific stage life as both an opera and a ballet.
John Cranko's ballet version is a masterpiece from curtain-up to curtain-down. It is built around two PdD for Onegin and Tatiana, a solo for Lensky, and a duel between Lensky and Onegin. A scrupulously mannered community of nobles and countryfolk portray the society's calm surface beneath which the passions of the principals roil.
The first major PdD occurs in Tatiana's dream in Act I. Onegin swirls her around and she is flying on top of the world emotionally as she dreams of the passion she would have with Onegin. At the music's climax, Onegin lifts Tatiana high into the air as she sits vertically on his hand. At the exact same musical moment in the final heart wrenching PdD in Act III before Tatiana throws Onegin out the door, she is no where near on top of the world. Instead, she's horizontally bent back on the floor under the weight of Onegin's desire and he yanks her up into a passionate sissonne momentarily breaking her emotional resistance.
Wednesday's matinee was as nearly a perfect ensemble performance as one could ask for and all the players on the stage enjoyed great chemistry. Irina Dvorovenko, in her penultimate appearance with ABT, lived her Tatiana with honesty, depth, and passion. Her early infatuation with Cory Stearns' Onegin was played with sincerity without trying to be too girlish. The excellent chemistry between Irina and Stearns was theatrically transforming throughout the evening. Irina's face has always been one of the more beautifully expressive faces in the company since she joined ABT – never less than fully invested in her character's emotions and story – and it has been sad to see ABT sideline her these past few years despite the fact that her technical and theatrical skills have seemed to be at their twin peaks.
Stearns extracted significantly more theatrical juices than in last year's performances even if they did sometimes look like they came from stage directions instead of from the fruit of the poem. Rather than instantly becoming angry with Tatiana for being so persistent about her love for him, his character seemed to understand the fragile nature of her young feelings and tried to turn her down with some compassion. There were noticeable improvements in his partnering, and he no longer looked like he was ready to collapse under the physical pressure of the choreography. A couple of lifts where Tatiana was supposed to twist into a jump to Onegin's shoulder appeared to be modified or perhaps weren't as clearly implemented as they should have been. Here's hoping that Stearns is on his toes for whatever Irina may throw at him tonight in her Farewell.
It was a thrill to watch Blaine Hoven and Gemma Bond in their debuts as Lensky, Onegin's poet friend, and Olga, Tatiana's pretty and flirtatious younger sister. A few nerves took a couple of Blaine's turns off course at the very beginning of the evening, but his solo of lament in Act II was exceptional. That was preceded by a fine dramatic confrontation with Onegin over his flirtation with his fiancé, the really-up-for-game Olga. This cast was in tune with Pushkin's idea that Onegin flirted with Olga not just out of boredom but in order to show Lensky the fickle nature of Olga's commitment to him.
Vitali Krauchenka was pitch-perfect as Prince Gremin who Tatiana married for love and convenience but who didn't provide the passion that Tatiana had dreamed about since reading her romance novels as a young girl.
Friday night's cast of Onegin had really, really high points and a few really, really low points, but it averaged out to be a pretty good evening thanks to the masterfully detailed and nuanced performances of Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes. They have a way of calmly and patiently enticing us into their beautiful world, and then suddenly, they're ripping our hearts out as they scream-dance This is what our world is reeeeally like. Jesus. Last night's Act III PdD left the audience pretty wrung out and needing a drink. Just as it oughta be.
Jared Matthews reprised his superb Lensky from last year. This guy has got it all – lines, technique, drama – and it all worked together brilliantly last night in his portrayal of Lensky as a somewhat naive poet who was finally pushed over the edge by Onegin's attention toward Olga.
Unfortunately, Isabella Boylston's debut performance as the pretty younger sister of Tatiana didn't add up to much. First, according to Pushkin, Olga is supposed to be pretty while Tatiana is the bookworm. Second, Olga's variations have a lot of jumps in them, and Isabella's dumping of her upper body does not a pretty jump make. Why hasn't someone insisted she fix this? How difficult is it to say, "Your arms and elbows fly up way too high when you jump and it makes you look dumpy. Fix it by tomorrow. If you do it again on stage, you're demoted or fired." What is so hard about saying that? It's not a matter of Isabella not being able to fix it; it's a matter of her neglect and ABT's coddling attitude that causes them to look the other way because a perfectly formed jump might be a slightly lower jump. Circus trumps artistry – again. Nor was Isabella's acting serviceable, and she frequently licked her front teeth like she was trying to get lipstick off of them. Her best theatrical moment of the evening was when she ran across the stage to hug Martine van Hamel's Madame Larina.
James Whiteside's Prince Gremin was like something out of the spook house. In Act II, it was painfully clear why Tatiana was so repelled by him. Act III saw adequate partnering from him, but the strain on his face when he picked up the tiny Vishneva doesn't bode well for Veronika Part who has to dance with him in her debut as Kitri or Gillian Murphy who has to dance with him in Swan Lake. What politics came into play that allowed this gothic-looking dancer from a less-than-top tier regional ballet company to waltz into ABT principal roles while the very capable and very handsome Eric Tamm and Roddy Doble waste away in the corps?
It's not a Dance 10, Looks 3 world in New York - no matter how high the jump, how flexible the limbs, or how hard one cultivates celebrity.
Friday night delivered disappointments that dampened the high successes of Vishneva and Gomes. The standout debut performances of Blaine Hoven and Gemma Bond at the Wednesday matinee were not surprises at all because the audience has known for years how talented these two are. The H.H. Pump Bump Award, some true Louboutin poetry, is bestowed upon them.
