Review: 2012 San Francisco Ballet’s Program 1: John Cranko’s Onegin January 30, 2012
Maria Kochetkova and Vitor Luiz in Cranko's Onegin. © Erik Tomasson
Rarely has a ballet treated its title character with such little sympathy. But equally rare is a full-length ballet assembled with intricate detail that ultimately sweeps the audience up on a breathtaking journey and challenges the audience with such rich choreography. John Cranko’s full-length production of Onegin is a gem. Loosely based on Alexander Pushkin’s poem “Eugene Onegin”, rather than a simplistic love story we’ve come to expect from full-length ballets, this is a refreshing moral tale told in the most interesting way.
Stunning costume and scenic design (by Santo Loquasto) would be empty without solid choreography to sustain such a dramatic journey. John Cranko’s choreography intimately captures the emotions of his characters so well. In addition, his choreography is rife with literature metaphor, an homage to the origin of the story perhaps. In the final pas de deux, Onegin pulls Tatiana’s arms back as she tries to walk forward, symbolizing the burden he had become in keeping her from progressing forward in her life. Add a layer of ingenuity to taking classical ballet steps and adding twists in the partnering, or a sprinkling of modern angles – a lean of the hip here, an innovative lift there. The peasant dances were the most interesting that I’d seen onstage, as usually they are seen as “fillers” for the more interesting sections. Not so here.
Maria Kochetkova in Cranko's Onegin. © Erik Tomasson
Overall, the choreography captured the emotions of the characters, but also gave the audience lots of things to think about as well. I love choreography that assumes an intelligent viewer. It’s a ballet to capture the heart and brains of its audience.
For the Sunday matinee performance, lead principals Sarah Van Patten and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba lit up the stage in a breathless performance. Van Patten’s heart-wrenching performance led many to tears in the final pas de deux with Pierre Francois Vilanoba, complexly layered with nostalgia, bitter regret, revenge, and heart. They appeared to be dancing a performance of a lifetime, and it was amazing to watch. Isaac Hernandez as Lensky displayed lovely transitions and phrasing, particularly in the curvature of his back and arms, but perhaps didn’t quite have the gravity of presence to master the fiery role. Courtney Elizabeth lit up the house with a lovely natural smile as the fun-loving Olga.
Maria Kochetkova and Vitor Luiz in Cranko's Onegin. © Erik Tomasson
In short, this production is one not to be missed. In my twitter account, I tweeted a three word review of this production, which was “pretty frickin’ amazing”. And that about sums it up. All of the parts of this production lined up to become more than the addition of its parts, with spectacular dancing throughout.
Did you see this production? Who did you see in the leads? I would have loved to have seen Maria Kochetkova and Vitor Luiz dance the title roles as well, I’m sure they were amazing too.
Onegin continues until February 3. Click here for more information. Program 2 starts on February 14.
I’ve talked to a few people who have seen all four casts, and they all seem to agree that you ended up with the best one, though Maria K. is also supposed to be awesome. If I can get over my cold, I’l be standing for it Thursday evening.
Feel better soon!
Van Patten and Vilanoba were a stellar pair. I would have liked to have seen Vitor Luiz as well – he must have been amazing, along with Maria K. I’m glad I caught a great cast!! It’s a pretty good show and better than the Little Mermaid in my opinion. I think this show is what the Little Mermaid was aspiring to be, if it hadn’t taken itself so seriously!
We saw the same performance you did – and loved it at least as much as you did. The dancing, the sets, and the costumes were all wonderful, but I think what really made this performance was the acting. We got drawn into the emotion of the story in a way that is rare (for me at least) in story ballets – Romeo and Juliet may be the only other example. I KNEW that she turns him down at the end and yet, during that amazing pas de deux, as she went from flight, to approach/avoidance, to what seemed like surrender, my heart wondered what she would do. When she tore up the letter, I felt like applauding! I stifled it, being oversocialized, but was pleased when I heard a smattering of applause in the hall.
Our season last year began with Sarah Van Patten on the last Sunday in January dancing a young woman in love for the first time and she was wonderful. But the maturity, power, and narrative drive of this ballet relegants Giselle to lower level. Up until the last pas de deux, this was really good – the emotional power of the last 10 or so minutes made it one of my all-time favorites. (Even though the music – the selection, not the playing, which was excellent – which is usually very important to me, was good, not great.)