Onegin - The National Ballet of Canada

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Historical Note J ohn Cranko was one of the 20th century’s greatest narrative choreographers. Cranko’s output was prodigious and he has left the ballet world with a rich repertoire of story ballets. His Romeo and Juliet, Onegin and The Taming of the Shrew are all in The National Ballet of Canada’s current repertoire and are superlative examples of his fine crafting of stage theatricality, skillful sense of drama, rich characterization and inventive dance vocabulary. Onegin was originally created by Cranko in 1965 for Stuttgart Ballet, the company of which he was Artistic Director. A dazzling and powerful dance-drama, Onegin has become one of this century’s most important and sought-after full-length ballets. The ballet is based on the narrative poem Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin and on Tchaikovsky’s opera of the same name. It is a tale of unrequited love in the tragic meeting of an innocent young girl with a cynical aristocrat. During the 1964/65 Stuttgart Ballet season, Cranko concentrated all his efforts on the T he National Ballet of Canada’s premiere of Onegin in 1984 featured a design by Jürgen Rose and lighting by Sholem Dolgoy. On June 19, 2010, glorious new set and costume designs created by one of today’s most illustrious designers, Santo Loquasto, were unveiled along with new lighting by James F. Ingalls, renowned designer for dance, opera and theatre. Visit national.ballet.ca to watch the mini documentary series on the building of the new sets and costumes for this production of Onegin. Page 8 creation of Onegin, his third full-length ballet. It was first performed by Stuttgart Ballet on April 13, 1965 at the Wurttemburgische Staatstheatre with Marcia Haydée as Tatiana, Ray Barra as Onegin, Egon Madsen as Lensky, and Ana Cardus as Olga. Cranko later produced a revised version of Onegin for Stuttgart Ballet in 1967 and it is this revised version that we see today. Onegin was staged for the National Ballet in 1984 by Reid Anderson. Anderson was the Artistic Director of the company from 1989 to 1996 and is now Artistic Director of Stuttgart Ballet. Onegin was first performed by the National Ballet at Toronto’s O’Keefe Centre (now the Sony Centre) on June 14, 1984 with Sabina Allemann as Tatiana and Frank Augustyn as Onegin. The production was later filmed by CBC TV and Primedia and was directed by Norman Campbell. The film garnered international praise and received the Silver Medal in the Performance Arts category at the Houston International Film Festival. Design Note Xiao Nan Yu and Jiˇrí Jelinek. Photo by Sian Richards.
Selected Biographies Karen Kain, C.C., LL.D., D. Litt., O.Ont. Artistic Director Acknowledged as one of the leading classical ballerinas of her time, Karen Kain is also one of Canada’s foremost arts advocates, bringing the same passion and dedication she exemplified as a dancer to her roles as a spokesperson for Canadian culture and as the Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Ms. Kain studied at Canada’s National Ballet School, graduating in 1969 when she joined The National Ballet of Canada. After quickly rising to the rank of Principal Dancer, she came to the attention of international audiences when she won the Silver Medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 1973. This led to a highly successful career on stages throughout the world. Ms. Kain retired from dance in 1997 and shortly afterwards, assumed the position of Artist-in- Residence with the National Ballet. In 1999, her role was expanded to that of Artistic Associate and in June of 2005, she was appointed Artistic Director of the company. Ms. Kain has received numerous accolades and awards throughout her career. She is a Companion of the Order of Canada, the first Canadian recipient of the Cartier Lifetime Achievement Award and was named an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the government of France. In 2002, she was honoured with a Governor General’s Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement and from 2004 to 2008 was Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2007, she received the Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award for demonstrating excellence and professionalism in the performing arts. In 2008, the Karen Kain School of the Arts officially opened. The school was named after Ms. Kain for her significant contributions to the arts over her career. John Cranko Choreographer Born in South Africa, John Cranko moved to London in 1946 to join Sadler’s Wells Ballet. Within four years, he was named Resident Choreographer and during this time, he created some of his finest early ballets. Through the 1950s, Mr. Cranko created works for both the Covent Garden and Sadler’s Wells branches of The Royal Ballet, notably Antigone, Bonne Bouche and The Lady and the Fool. In 1957, Mr. Cranko choreographed his first fulllength ballet, The Prince of the Pagodas. Shortly thereafter, he created La Belle Hélène for the Paris Opera Ballet and Romeo and Juliet for La Scala. In 1960, he went to Stuttgart to restage Prince of the Pagodas and was asked to assume the directorship of Stuttgart Ballet in 1961. There he created the full-length ballets Onegin, Carmen and The Taming of the Shrew, while continuing to create short works and restage classics. Mr. Cranko died tragically on an airplane bringing his company home from New York in 1973. Reid Anderson Staging Artistic Director of Stuttgart Ballet since September 1996, Reid Anderson has had a long and distinguished career in the world of dance as a dancer, teacher, coach, producer and Artistic Director. Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Mr. Anderson received his dance training in Canada and at The Royal Ballet School in London, England. At the invitation of the Choreographer and Director John Cranko, he joined Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet in 1969. Throughout his 17-year career with Stuttgart Ballet, Mr. Anderson danced leading roles in a wide range of classical and contemporary productions and worked with some of the leading choreographers of the 20th century including, among others, John Cranko, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Glen Tetley, John Neumeier, Jiˇrí Kylián and William Forsythe. Mr. Anderson retired from the stage in 1986 and became the Artistic Director of Ballet British Columbia in 1987, a position he held until 1989. From 1989 to 1996, he was Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada before returning to Stuttgart Ballet as Artistic Director in September 1996. Since then, he has reshaped the company and its repertoire considerably, resulting in sold-out houses and increased international touring. In addition to his duties as Artistic Director at Stuttgart Ballet, Mr. Anderson has staged the works of John Cranko around the world since 1984. Jane Bourne Staging Born in Lincoln, Jane Bourne trained at the Institute of Choreology in London and worked with Massine on Le Tricorne at London Festival Ballet. She joined Stuttgart Ballet in 1974, Page 9
Page 1 and 2: Ballet Notes Onegin June 19 - 25, 2
Page 3 and 4: Celia Franca, C.C., Founder George
Page 5 and 6: Xiao Nan Yu. Photo by Sian Richards
Page 7: Tatiana’s Letter “I write to yo
Page 11: David Briskin Music Director and Pr

Onegin - The National Ballet of Canada

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