#evgeniy onegin

[fal-con]

Me: why do I like angst so much? Even though I love happy end, why do I love angst?

My starter pack:

a.k.a. me don't liking the "evgeniy onegin" canon(don't get me wrong i completely understand why is it this way)

[alexadelphia-official]

The guy Tatiana ended up marrying is an absolute woman respecter tho

[strechanadi]

What is your favorite Onegin moment?

Took me long enough…Oh. My. God. You can’t just running around casually asking that kind of questions like it’s nothing!This would most probably get more complex than you ever expected. At the same time, it’s me and it’s Onegin. Like come on, how could you expected any different?So my favourite part of Onegin?Long story short: the main character.Long story… well, long: (Ready?)I assume you are asking about the ballet, not the book, so let’s concentrate on that (although I couldn’t promise my focus won’t change on the way…) (It will. It’s a mental disorder, even have some fancy name I’d guess, and it can’t be helped.)Speaking purely of dancing I love the famous and utterly genious diagonals of grand jetés in the first act (and who doesn’t?).I love Onegin’s solo in the park and the entire interaction between him and Tatiana (literally in love with this lift). I love Lensky’s heartbroken (and heartbreaking) before duel solo, because it captures the naive, pure soul of young (and more than slightly hysterical) poet so well. Special mention for those low back bends.And obviously, I love the last pas de deux. Because it - is - a - masterpiece!Speaking of the the ballet as such, it’s every second of Onegin’s presence on stage that is my favourite. If it’s done properly, that is…And right here we are reaching the point, where I need to make something very clear. There’s Onegin written by Pushkin. And then there’s Onegin in Cranko’s ballet. And these two are just not the same. Some of the differences are pretty minor, sometimes it’s just a thing of personal interpretation of certain Pushkin’s verses (and believe me, I’ve read 4 different translations only in my mother language /plus the russian original/ and each could give you completely different feeling and change your opinion on some situations, characters and their personalities…), but other differences (and changes) are huge and, as I see it, not all of them were “necessary for the sake of ballet story-telling” or whatever, while some of them just feels like misconception and/or misunderstanding of Onegin (as a character).Onegin how Cranko made him, looks like a draft of some kind of the original person, closer to the general image (that clearly does not irritate me in the slightest!) most people have in mind when it comes to him, his personality simplified, focused just on certain parts and that could (and sometimes really does) made him a bit… flat?And then there are changes in the story as well. As I said, I’m well aware it’s ballet we are talking about. That the book wasn’t meant for stage production in the first place (have to admit, I’ve never seen Tchaikovsky’s opera, so I don’t know what was changed in its libretto). So I understand some changes and simplifications had to be made.Like I’m not super mad about the fact, that for some reason the last Act take place 10 years after the Onegin/Lensky duel (while Onegin looks at least 45yo, which is simply bullshit even with the 10 years later concept). Or that in the book Tatiana’s dream is more like a nightmare, than the romantic duet in the ballet. Or that the Larina sisters weren’t originally there for the duel, that they didn’t even know anything about it, since Lensky didn’t challenged Onegin publicly (historical fun fact - Lensky couldn’t do it even if he’d wanted to. At the time, early 19th century, duels were forbidden in Russia. Which doesn’t mean they didn’t happen, it’s pretty well known fact Pushkin himself died after one of them, but it wasn’t possible to announced them in such a public, no matter how dramatic manner).So these kind of things doesn’t bother me like some literature specialists and/or almost every russian person (like how DARE they made Onegin have a moustache in the 3rd Act, even though he wasn’t in the army, therefore would never wear it!). What bothers me a bit is the fact, that in Cranko ballet it seems Onegin dances with Olga because he’s mad at Tatiana, because he wants to hurt her. Even though in the book it’s Lensky Onegin is mad at instead. Because Lensky persuaded him to come back to Larina’s. And now he has to be here with all those people he doesn’t care about and is bored by… So in the poem Onegin does what he does out of boredom and for him it’s just a joke (stupid, a bit ruthless, but still just a joke). While in the ballet he is the ultimate villain who broke one girl’s heart and started dancing with her sister straight away. Yes, there is a moment, when Onegin is about to leave, but then sees Lensky with Olga and in split of second decides to stay and enjoy himself. And this second dance with Olga is more to provoke Lensky, but still… But I get, that the changes were made to dramatize the action. That’s why I’m kind of willing to accept that Onegin tears Tatiana’s letter in front of her, because we as viewers need to see dramatic action rather than the “I was not made for love (and certainly not for marriage) and you wouldn’t be happy with me” kind of monologue, plus it makes great parallel to Tatiana doing the same with Onegin’s letter for her at the end of the ballet. And it does make really powerful image. But what I never gonna accept is the way Cranko made Onegin (and like 99% of his interprets) do it.And before you ask - yes. Yes it is possible to tear a love letter and still be the Onegin from the poem. You won’t be “the right Onegin” for most people in the theatre, granted. But TAKE THE RISK, believe me, IT’S WORTH IT!In short - I love when I see on stage the Onegin I know from the book. I love to see words I’ve read (too) many times.I love Onegin’s first solo, because (when it’s done properly) that’s the first and probably the only time in the whole ballet you could actually see HIM.I love this moment at the beginning of the ballet in 2nd Act. (No words needed, right?) (And if so, just go and grab the book!) (And read it.)I love watching different dancers and their approach to Onegin playing cards during said ball.I love the very end, when Onegin accepts Lensky’s glove and the duel.I love the last interaction between the two of them. The second Onegin just says fuck it, be it as you wish!I love all the “scenes between scenes”. Like - Onegin standing at the proscenium, watching Lensky and Olga and other boys and girls saying their goodbyes.Onegin with gun in hands and for one broken second realizing what he had agree with, what he is about to do, but then puts this cold, perfect mask of a distant aristocrat on and goes.Onegin after (and before) the ball at Gremin’s, hunted by his past, by all those nameless girls, by death of one of his closest friends (and by the fact it was he who killed him).And as I said, I love the last pas de deux. I love Alina Cojocaru with Johan Kobborg (GOD, these two, honestly!) doing it, it’s one of the most dramatic things I’ve ever seen and I’m hopelessly in love with their interpretation.And you know what? I’m gonna say it. I love Mathieu Ganio in this ballet. Because he gave me Onegin I’ve never though I would see. I don’t care what others say. He (and Ludmila!) gave me Pushkin, and that’s something I will love him for forever.

Sorry.

Too much information:

Couldn’t stop myself.

But the truth about Onegin need to be said.

[beheadedtheatrekid]

I haven't posted anything here for like seven or eight months, so I decided to share some behind-the-scenes photos from my college project

The project will be in the form of a short film based on the fifth chapter of the novel Eugene Onegin

Perhaps I'll share more later if anyone is interested :3

Btw the novel itself is in Russian, but if you want to read it, you can do so at this link https://lib.ru/LITRA/PUSHKIN/ENGLISH/onegin_j.txt

[sunaswagyey]

Ленский/Lenskiy

[alexadelphia-official]

I could of course choose to believe that the last Romanovs named their first two daughters Olga and Tatiana because those are overwhelmingly common names

Or I could choose to believe that they were Evgeniy Onegin fans committing to the bit

And you know which one is funnier

[alexadelphia-official]

And let's be clear, (puts on elitist glasses), I watched the opera after I read the book

[alexadelphia-official]

Hey wasn't there TWO duels in Evgeniy Onegin?! I think they skipped the second one at the end, making it an ambiguous ending