© Stuttgart Ballet Stuttgart 'Onegin' reviews 'Onegin' reviews Barankiewicz in reviews Rademaker in reviews recent Stuttgart reviews more Kevin Ng reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months) A part of this review also appears in the Hong Kong Economic Journal.

Cranko’s choreography for this three-act ballet based on Pushkin’s novel is actually quite thin and predictable, but it is an emotionally powerful dramatic ballet with a great ballerina role. The best parts of the ballet are the two climactic pas de deux closing the first and last acts – the Act 1 pas de deux when Tatiana dreams of Onegin, and the pas de deux in Act 3 when the by then happily married Tatiana finally rejects Onegin. When danced by a great ballerina, the two heart-stirring pas de deux can provide a transcendent experience.

In the late 1980s, I was fortunate to have seen several stellar casts in “Onegin” when it was in the repertory of the English National Ballet (then called the London Festival Ballet.) Among the distinguished ballerinas dancing Tatiana with the company then were Natalia Makarova, Lynn Seymour, Ekaterina Maximova, and Marcia Haydee herself who created this role for Cranko back in 1965.

This week in Hong Kong, Sue Jin Kang held her own as another great Tatiana of our time. Her performance throughout the three acts was wholly absorbing. She was ecstatic in the dream pas de deux in Act 1, her soft and yielding limbs tracing wide arcs in the air in the big supported lifts. In Act 2 her grief after being rejected by Onegin was moving. She was at her most sublime in the final act. She conveyed movingly her marital bliss with Prince Gremin in the beginning, and her poignant rejection of Onegin at the end of the final pas de deux was most heart-breaking.

Filip Barankiewicz as Onegin
© Stuttgart Ballet

Filip Barankiewicz, a fine dramatic dancer, was entirely compelling as Onegin. His acting was nuanced, and his partnering was strong and solid. In another cast, Elena Tentchikowa, a former Kirov dancer, was less expressive as Tatiana, and her dancing flowed less smoothly. Onegin was authoritatively danced by Ivan Gil Ortega, currently a guest artist of the Suttgart Ballet.

As Lensky, Marijn Rademaker had a winning charm and freshness. His pure classical style was a delight. Laura O’Malley was a vivacious Olga. Nikolay Godunov, another former Kirov dancer, impressed as Prince Gremin.