Onegin
Royal Danish Ballet
April 17, 2008
John Cranko’s Onegin remains the perfect match for the Royal Danish Ballet. All company skills are on display and create the unique experience: a performance that enhances the original work.
It is fitting that Frank Andersen finished his second tenure as ballet master with one of his greatest successes. However one cannot help remembering that the RDB only aquired Onegin in 1989 because a highly published ballet based on a Hans Andersen fairy tale with music by Sebastian, a Danish pop icon and costumes by Jens Jacob Woorsaa was dropped by choreographer Heinz Sporli shortly before it planned premiere. Needing a quick replacement, Reid Anderson's production of Onegin came through with scenography and costumes borrowed from two different companies. Starring Arne Villumsen as a stunning Onegin it became the hit of the decade, and has delighted audiences ever since but it is only now almost 20 years later that the company has acquired its own copy of Jürgen Roses costumes and sets.
Cranko´s ballet is very well put together. Not particularly long, it includes a selection of great pas de deux, actions scenes and strong corps dances as well as telling an intriguing story of the four major characters. There is no long dry spells or irrelevant dancing numbers as in for instance Macmillan’s Manon. Everything is driving the plot forward and told in dance movements. Want to se a hysterical solo or an aggressive pirouette, visit Onegin and in particular the RDB version.