Partnership in Onegin
I think that one of the first things to say about Onegin is that it's a grown up ballet. If one is expecting princes, tutus, swans or fairies, then perhaps this isn't the one for you. Here we find that evil does not come in the form of monsters or evil Queens, but rather, shows itself in reality, through real people, destroying love. It's serious stuff, and it's stuff I could never really understand until now. I've seen the ballet before, a few times when I was a lot younger, but now I can see a new depth. For me, the true evil that presents itself in Onegin is not the burning cruelty in Onegin himself, nor the act of murdering his closest friend, but rather, the core evil in this ballet is time. The real tragedy of the ballet is that once Onegin has realised he does in fact love Tatiana, it is too late, and she will not compromise her morals and submit to passion. Come on slow coach! If only he realised slightly earlier. Preferably before killing Lensky. Then all would be happier and we wouldn't have to worry. But that isn't the case and Pushkin's story, staged so beautifully at the Royal, does something rare to me. It makes me compare the ballet to my own life. What if this happened to me? What if the love of my life narrowly passes me by all because of 'wrong timing'? I wonder, surely if it's right then it's right and time has nothing to do with it. But here lies the genius of Cranko. So much is said in the pas de deux between Tatiana and her husband, Prince Gremin, as we understand in just a matter of minutes that their love is real, affectionate, caring and loving. How could she leave him for Onegin? She knows deep down that it's wrong and she has promised herself to the loving husband. If he was abusive, maybe things would be different. So yes, time is the rub in this ballet and Cranko knows every move in breaking your heart.
Another thing to say about Onegin is that I'm not too sure if anyone can do better than Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg. As a real couple, they were able to bring something deeper to the roles and in the final scene, Kobborg's crying, actually just his face, led me to an Alice-Cooper-should-have-worn-waterproof-mascara situation. I agreed with myself, however, to put them to one side. Great while it lasted, but let someone else have a go. Enter Marianela Nunez and Thiago Soares. Another real life couple and another fabulous partnership. They confirmed for me that to portray the tragedy between Tatiana and Onegin, a real bond with chemistry and true love is probably the way to go. Maybe this ballet should only be danced by real life couples. I know that many people are waiting for the final pas de deux, where Tatiana rejects Onegin; however, this scene can really only break your heart if the first two acts have successfully built up their relationship. Nunez and Soares do this brilliantly. I genuinely understand that she is infatuated with him from the start and Soares plays Onegin with charisma and a dark charm. You know from the start that he isn't going to play fair.
I feel like their portrayal of these characters has been thought out and it's certainly an intellectual display. Marianela is spot on with the change from naïve girl to experienced woman. By the end, we can see that this is a woman who has seen things. She effects this change perfectly once Onegin has shot Lensky. In my mind, this is a pivotal moment in the ballet that many actually miss. Nela is spot on though. As Onegin struts back after shooting Lensky, Tatiana stands up from the floor to look at him. Marianela uses this moment to mark the change in Tatiana. She holds her head up high, pushes out her chin and glares at Onegin, telling him, look at yourself, look at what you are, what you've become, basically- you're a bastard. It's a look you might only get with binoculars but as the curtain falls we know that Tatiana won't be messing around any more. I love this interpretation from Marianela because it marks Tatiana as an intelligent individual who in fact isn't corrupted by the romance tales she reads, because when she meets her prince and realises he's more animal than chivalric hero, she doesn't wait around. She understands right and wrong from the start and this needs to be set up early so that her rejection in the end becomes a symbol of empowerment and innate morality. It's also a lot easier to know Onegin is wrong through Soares's portrayal. Oh Thiago. It's pretty clear that the darker roles are more his thing. He doesn't do much for me in the princely roles, but oh his Rudolf! His Onegin! He just gets it. He strikes a perfect balance between arrogant and vulnerable. In the final Act, I really believe that he has aged and that he has been haunted by Lensky's death. He is a passionate Onegin and his desperation and hysteria in the final act partnered with Marianela's complete submergence into the pas de deux, strikes gold.
I was also fortunate to see the Natalia Osipova / Matthew Golding cast. As partnerships go, I'm not as convinced here. The two dance very well together and she pushes him to bring out the personality of the character, but their acting styles are quite different. He is a slightly more wooden counterpart to her tear-inducing passion. I love these two dancers though. I think Golding is strong, technically exquisite and a strong partner, but for me, he isn't quite Onegin. He did the boredom of the countryside very well but his flirtation with Olga didn't quite get there, nor was he as convincing as Thiago as an older and disturbed Onegin. Osipova, on the other hand, succeeds in every way as Tatiana. She is nerdy and bookish, she can't believe she could ever find love. In the dream sequence we see her climactic burst as she dreams that she too, as a naïve and lonely girl, can experience love and passion. It's an interpretation that I haven't seen before. Yet again with Osipova, she surprises us. She adds small touches and details that are unique to her. She is quiet in the first Acts, she is more tentative and nervous of Onegin than curious, she is more frustrated when she writes her love letter than on cloud nine and in the final scene she is so disgusted with herself that she moves her mirror away, too appalled by her actions, or what she might be about to do. It's a unique interpretation that is possibly the closest to Pushkin's Tatiana- as Osipova has said herself her goal was to portray the Tatiana depicted in the poem.
I think that the partnership in Onegin is the key ingredient to a successful performance. With something like Romeo and Juliet, of course a believable partnership is important, but seeing as they die so young, time isn't exactly explored in the same depth! With Onegin, the foundations between Tatiana and Onegin need to be set up immediately for us to believe the twists and turns of their relationship and the yearning between them as they have aged. I'm beginning to think this is more achievable through an already connected romantic couple. When I saw Itziar Mendizabal and Nehemiah Kish (both of whom were strong and believable in their portrayals), the connection between them wasn't quite there and I walked away pretty unmoved at the end. Perhaps a duo is coming that will compete with Cojocaru/Kobborg and Nunez/Soares (I'm seeing Laura Morera and Federico Bonnelli next week so who knows), but for now, I'm happy to just reminisce on those iconic performances and continue to ponder about love and time.
NOTE TO READER: So now that I have seen Morera and Bonnelli, please disregard the majority of the above. I have now realised that off stage romance is not the key to breaking my heart in this ballet, but rather, just a deep level of chemistry. Both Morera and Bonelli were utterly believable in their roles. The latter was the most surprising of the night. Bonelli plays Onegin like a teenager: bored, stroppy, troubled and with a sense of uncertainty about his future. It is so much more believable as his treatment of the young Tatiana almost passes off as a foolish mistake made during his youth, than an act of cruelty. After all, Pushkin's Onegin isn't an awful person, he just believes that settling down for a life in the countryside isn't for him. Fair enough. I agree there. I think that the genius of both of their performances actually lies in their recognition that so much of this ballet is about sex. The dream sequence is about Tatiana's desire to be awakened and the excitement of being with this man. As the music reaches a climax, so does the choreography and this echoes youthful and sexual passion. Morera grabs his thighs and gasps during this scene and in their final pas de deux, as much of their passion was sexual as well as loving. When she pleads to Gremin not to leave she knows she cannot control herself with Onegin. The pull is too strong and she might not be able to resist him. This juxtaposes the sweetness in her relationship with Gremin and we, with Tatiana, are almost faced with a good-cop-bad-cop situation. Her decision to hand back the letter is made even more difficult, not just because she loves Onegin, but because he fulfills everything else that she desires and cannot have with Gremin. For me, Morera and Bonelli have been the only pair to get this right during this run of the ballet. They have also shown me the beauty of seeing so many different casts as just when you think you've cracked the golden mean to a beautiful performance, in waltzes the next duo to unravel another layer.
*Image Copyright David Long (Laura Morera and Federico Bonnelli Curtain Call)