Last night I went to the ballet at the Royal Opera house in Covent Garden. The ballet in question was Onegin -based on Pushkins novel and performed by the Royal Ballet Company.
I would tend to be more inclined to opera, however Onegin is truly stunning in every possible way. In three acts this ballet tells the story of a woman’s unrequited love, dueling-to-the-death noblemen and the tables being turned on the unrequited love.
I wont bore you with details of the story – its all well known http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Onegin –
The performance was truly stunning – both a visual and auditory treat. Leaving the dancing aside, the sets were visually stunning and the lighting was world class. The music is drawn from Tchaikovsky – and I think is fairly bland throughout, however that simply makes the aspect of the dancing all the more enticing, passionate and very engaging.
There was not one second through any of the 3 acts that I was not totally and utterly enthralled – two intervals meant a glass of champagne in the bar and even with that, I was still eager to get back to my seat.
I am not an expert in or on ballet and I didn’t know if the performances were good or just really good but from what I saw, the dancing was truly stunning – effortless – especially between Onegin and Tatania – the scene where she dreams of her lover and the end scene where he pleads for her love and – she – following duty banishes him forever – but not without emotional upheaval – which was totally palpable when the curtain went down.
All in all – a superb evening and I’d recommend it to anyone. I always thought ballet might be a little inaccessible if you didn’t understand the complex nature of the dance. I was wrong – it moved me immensely.
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