ABT 2017 - Onegin

I've been so swamped in my office, I've fallen behind in the blogging!  I had a ballet and a new musical this week, so let's try to crank some posts out, shall we? They may be short, though.  My brain is fuzzy; I have a busy weekend ahead and want to have a clear brain heading into it...

I again had to exchange my regular performance tickets for ABT's Onegin because of a work thing - I decided to change to the following night because (a) a friend of mine has tickets that night, and (b) I was interested to see the return of a dancer who is (not kidding) my age.  Actually, she's a year older than me. I think I saw her dance Juliet probably fifteen years ago, so it was an intriguing thought to see her return after all this time (she retired from ABT about ten years ago).

I last saw Onegin four years ago, starring my favorite Julie Kent (remind yourself of my thoughts HERE).  I was very taken with the ballet, since it deals with a spurned young girl who does some spurning of her own later on.  Perhaps I should speak with my therapist about this someday.  Hm.  Moving on.  This ballet primarily requires the dancers to be wonderful actors - there is some beautiful dancing and partnering, yes, but the acting is the focus, especially for the lead couple.  I think that's probably why a lot of the 'older' ballerinas enjoy doing this ballet, the story is the thing.  I'll have to admit that this time, I did long for a little more...something.

Roberto Bolle

It just seemed to me that everyone was dancing underwater or something.  It all seemed very slow, staid, almost labored.  It was strange.  I mean, the story was being told, but it seemed to be in slow-motion.  Maybe my brain was in slow-motion, because I haven't heard that particular criticism from anyone else.  It was beautiful, don't get me wrong, anytime Roberto Bolle is on stage there is beauty (my GOD he is handsome), but I didn't feel as much passion and angst and regret as I perhaps wanted to.

Bolle as Onegin is very aloof and cold, yet outwardly polite.  He seems to do things for how they look to others and not for how they feel to him.  His partnering of Alessandra Ferri as Tatiana was gallant, but perfunctory (in a character, not a dancer way).  The way he differentiated between his dancing in the dream scene was really terrific, and then his quiet desperation in the final act was also very moving.  His character arc was very well-done, and his dancing was sublime. Ferri's, on the other hand, was maybe too subtle for me to grasp from the balcony. She seemed a tad one-note to me, just introspective and sedate.  I didn't see the changes in her once she meets Onegin and how he changes her forever.  I did see, in the last act, her respect and love for her husband, but I didn't see the jolt she must've felt at seeing Onegin again.  And maybe I was just remembering the choreography incorrectly, but it seemed as if some of my favorite steps from the last time I saw the ballet weren't there (though I do think I was conflating some of the scenes with Manon, another favorite ballet for our 'seasoned' leading ladies), but I just was left rather wanting.

Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin were the secondary couple, as they were the last time I saw this ballet, and they were again quite lovely. Oddly, they had problems again in their first pas de deux with the supported pirouettes.  Maybe that's just a tricky move for them?  But the rest of their dancing was terrific and his solos were amazing, especially the one he did right before the duel.  But the pas de trois with him, Lane, and Ferri also seemed almost sluggish to me. James Whiteside was pleasant as the husband and was, as always, a grand partner to his leading lady. I could use a bit more acting depth from him, though, in general.  Once his acting reaches the level of his dancing and his partnering, he will be compelling.

I had a good time at Onegin, of course, because I always have a good time at the ballet.  I was especially happy to see my goddaughter, who was there with a friend.  A hug from my goddaughter is always a happy thing.  I may skip further performances by Ferri, though, and stick with trying to find a new favorite instead of reliving the past with my old favorites. That way, the problem is with me.  Only two ballets left for the season - yikes! Of course, one of those ballets features an old favorite, so that 'new favorite' theory may not be put to the test quite yet...