The ballet season at the historic War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco opened with the world premiere of a new production of Eugene Onegin, choreographed by Yuri Possokhov.

The new Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ballet, Tamara Rojo—a renowned ballerina who performed for many years with the Royal Ballet in London and led the English National Ballet from 2012 to 2022—has long been a great admirer of the British choreographer John Cranko. 

Cranko first staged the Eugene Onegin ballet in 1965. As is well known, no specific ballet score was originally written for Alexander Pushkin’s novel in verse, so Cranko compiled the music from various works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

This time, Tamara Rojo, along with the Artistic Director of the Joffrey Ballet, Ashley Wheater, tasked Yuri Possokhov and composer Ilya Demutsky with creating a modern ballet that breathes “Russian soul” into the story. To date, choreographer Yuri Possokhov and Ilya Demutsky have collaborated on seven productions across various venues, including the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. All of them have met with great success.

It was heartening to see a production based on one of Alexander Pushkin’s most brilliant poetic works grace the San Francisco stage. The creators found a unique way to convey the main plot points through the enchanting imagery of Russian nature.

Four different casts of dancers participated in the production, and according to numerous reviews, all of them masterfully captured the dramatic nuances of the performance.

In this regard, it is worth sharing a quote from Tamara Rojo regarding the choreographer of Eugene Onegin:

“It’s amazing to move in that style. His choreographic way of telling a story is within the movements… You just [have to] be present within his style, and then you are telling the story of Eugene Onegin, which is amazing.”