Farewells and bold debuts in National Ballet of Canada's Onegin

For its second offering of the 23/24 season, the National Ballet of Canada revived its iconic production of John Cranko’s Onegin, first presented by the company in 1984, then re-designed in 2010 by Santo Loquasto in the handsome, traditional sets unveiled again this autumn. The company’s connection to Onegin, which premiered at Stuttgart Ballet in 1965, runs deep. Former NB artistic director Reid Anderson was himself a member of the fabled German company, danced the title role, and indeed, returned to Toronto to coach this revival.

As principal dancer Guillaume Côté mentioned in a pre-performance chat on November 25th, Anderson in fact owns the rights to this ballet, and had a strong hand casting this revival. The veteran Côté had danced his final Onegin the previous evening, while in a bold move, recently promoted second soloist Larkin Miller made his title role debut on November 25th. Their respective Tatianas were Jurgita Dronina and Svetlana Lunkina.

While on the surface Cranko’s choreography draws almost entirely on traditional ballet vocabulary, its modernism stems from the manner in which each step and gesture are intrinsically married to character and narrative. As charming as are the ‘national’ dances in a standard Swan Lake or Nutcracker, they do little to advance the plot. In Onegin, the title character’s slow, deliberate traversals of the stage immediately convey his egoistic reserve while Tatiana’s ecstatically arched lifts signal her naïve, romantic notions about love based in fiction.

Côté’s long immersion in Onegin was evident in his exquisitely detailed characterization. Haughty yes, but also tragically broken in his ultimate rejection by Tatiana. In his opening solo, even while executing clean pirouettes and jetés, he still managed to convey his character’s ennui and disinterest in the attentions of lovelorn, teenaged Tatiana. On the following afternoon, despite his relative youth, Miller projected Onegin’s lack of empathy with a well-timed ‘oh well’ facial expression after he cruelly tears up Tatiana’s confessional love letter. His ghostly countenance in the Mirror pas de deux perfectly captured the scene’s dream state but there was nothing otherworldly about the athleticism he brought to the incredibly dangerous lifts he executed with Lunkina.

Hers is an experienced Tatiana, especially when conveying her youth and introversion. She was particularly affecting in the very fleetly-executed solo she dances during her character’s birthday scene as she endeavours in vain to attract Onegin’s attention. Dronina’s Tatiana (her first) was altogether more abandoned, especially in the final pas de deux with its incredibly demanding lifts where she exhibited complete trust in Côté.

Onegin is unusual in that its so-called ‘secondary’ couple are in fact of integral importance. Lensky, Onegin’s friend and the object of Olga’s (Tatiana’s sister) love, functions as the title character’s opposite, free and open in his affection until he is cruelly goaded into a duel by his erstwhile friend who flirts outrageously with Olga. The role offers gorgeous, lyrical solos on which principal dancers Harrison James at the first performance and Siphesihle November at the second, each imprinted their personal stamp. James’ take was very much in the danseur noble tradition with smoothly-executed arabesque turns in his moving solo before the duel. In the same section, November offered more attack, momentarily coming slightly unstuck, but demonstrating throughout his extraordinary height in jumps.

With Olga, similar to its casting of the title role, the company offered more experienced, as well as newly promoted artists. Principal Tina Pereira projected carefree love until forced to plead desperately with James’ Lensky to abandon the duel. Cranko brilliantly conveys the horror of this situation with a series of angular poses in which her body is folded together with Lensky's and Tatiana’s. Opposite November, second soloist Tirion Law offered a more sylph-like portrayal, weightless in her lifts, with extraordinary extension à la seconde in her Act 1 pas de deux.

The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra under David LaMarche for both performances, revelled in the gorgeous sonorities of the pastiche Tchaikovsky score (better appreciated from my fourth ring seat at the second performance, where the sound blossomed). The company’s corps was especially thrilling in the Act 1 jetés en diagonale as repeated rows of women leap across the stage, supported by the male corps.

Speaking before the performance on November 25th, artistic director Hope Muir questioned why Onegin isn’t considered among the top tier of story ballets. This revival clearly demonstrated it deserves to be there, supported by the National Ballet’s deep history with the work and the confidence it places in its future with a new generation of company artists.