Boston Ballet's 'Onegin' succeeds on all levels

Last Thursday, the Boston Ballet began its 11-day run of Onegin, a ballet that has come to be most closely associated with the company _ it was the first American ballet company to perform the piece in 1994, and then once more in 1997.

Now at the Wang Theater, Onegin is under the direction of Mikko Nissien, an accomplished dancer with experience with the Kirov Ballet School, the Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet. Prior to joining the Boston Ballet, Nissien held the position of Artistic Director for the Marin School of Ballet in San Rafael, California and temporarily for the Alberta Ballet. Nissien assumed the position of Artistic Director for the Boston Ballet last fall and has already earned plenty of praise for his fresh ideas and stylistic contributions to the once faltering ballet company.

Onegin is based upon a well-known poem by Alexander Pushkin and is choreographed by John Cranko, a former artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet. The story revolves around a cynical Russian aristocrat, Onegin (performed by Gael Lambiotte) who rejects the love of an innocent girl, Tatiana (Larissa Ponomarenko). The piece is set in 19th-century Russia, and Onegin brilliantly weaves its tale of tragedy and love through expressive dance and music. The climax of the story occurs at the final pas de deux between Onegin and Tatiana, clearly one of the most beautiful dances ever choreographed.

Nissien commented on Cranko's work as "telling a story through music. His choreography is nuanced, yet the clarity of the story is always paramount." Pushkin's style of melodrama, passion, and unrequited love contrasts nicely with Cranko's poignancy and pure artistry.

Onegin is set to an arrangement of Tchaikovsky by Kurt-Heinz Stolze. Stolze took bits and pieces from several of Tchaikovsky's piano and operatic works and created a completely new score. The task of rewriting and transforming Tchaikovsky was a daunting one, but not one that frustrated Stolze.

"Stolze did a marvelous job of pulling the score together," commented Boston Ballet's Music Director, Jonathan MacPhee. "The music for this ballet works smoothly as an unbroken whole."

The dancers were nearly flawless and graceful, as always. There was a fairly even split between the number of dances featuring two of the principal dancers and larger-scale group dances. The corps de ballet was a talented assembly of dancers who did a respectable job of supporting the leads. The principal dancers were all of extreme merit, especially Lambiotte, who performs the title role of Onegin approximately every other night. His dancing is precise with clean cut executions on the leaps. When lifting his partner, Lambiotte makes it look effortless.

Ponomarenko is not a disappointment, either. Her frailty and grace wins the hearts of the audience members, especially towards the end when she fights the urge to succumb to Onegin after he has left and abused her.

The single most masterful part of Onegin is its finale. Usually the finales in ballets are big company dances with several dances on stage at once, but Onegin is an exception to this rule. The finale is the pas de deux between Onegin and Tatiana that takes place in Tatiana's bedroom.

We witness Onegin's plea to Tatiana to take him back and to forgive him all of his past wrongdoings. At first Tatiana gives in and dances passionately with him until she remembers how much he hurt her. She retreats to her desk to find an old love letter from Onegin and tears it up in front of him. Onegin is pained by this and we see him become physically weakened as Tatiana rejects his loves once and for all, setting her free from misery.

One of the most striking aspects of Onegin is its breathtaking sets. The backdrops are brilliant paintings and truly succeed in drawing the audience into the story. The costume designs are also impressive, primarily consisting of light pastels and grays.

Lambiotte is a native of Brussels, Belgium and trained at the Antwerp/ Flanders Ballet School, and also spent two years with the Deutsche Oper Am Rhein in Duesseldorf. He joined the Boston Ballet around the same time as Nissien, coming directly from the Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam, where he danced for five years. His future plans include traveling with the Royal Ballet of London to Australia to perform both Swan Lake and Giselle.

Ponomarenko is a native of Ukraine and a graduate of the acclaimed Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg and traveled extensively beforehand with the Donetsk Ballet Company. When Ponomarenko came to the United States to continue her ballet career, she made some guest appearances with the Tulsa Ballet Theatre and Ballet Mississippi. A member of the Boston Ballet since 1993, Ponomarenko has gradually worked her way up the scale to lead roles such as Aurora in Sleeping Beauty in 1997.

Onegin is a ballet that appeals to both seasoned ballet aficionados and newcomers to the art form, a testament to its versatility and allure.