Review: EUGENE ONEGIN at San Francisco Ballet

San Francisco Ballet is kicking off its 2026 repertory season with the massively ambitious world premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s Eugene Onegin. It’s a tall order to create a full-length contemporary classical ballet to compete with the warhorses we’ve seen a zillion times, but SFB has given it their considerable all. If opening night wasn’t quite a home run, there was plenty to recommend from the evening, including some breathtaking choreography, a glorious original score, eye-catching visuals and of course sumptuous dancing.

The tale comes from the classic Pushkin novel of the same name, which was subsequently adapted into the famous Tchaikovsky opera and Cranko ballet. In the twilight of Imperial Russia, Onegin, a jaded aristocrat in mourning, joins his friend Lensky on a visit to the family of Lensky’s fiancée, Olga, and her more reserved sister, Tatiana. Onegin finds himself drawn to Tatiana, and she to him. With some hesitation, Tatiana writes Onegin a letter professing her attraction, but in a fit of pique, he rejects her advances. Envious of the easy rapport between Olga and Lensky, Onegin flirts with coquettish Olga, inciting the jealous Lensky to challenge him to a duel where Onegin kills Lensky, devastating both sisters. Years later, Onegin is a guest at a ball in celebration of Prince Gremin’s wife, whom Onegin is stunned to learn is the same Tatiana he rejected years before. Realizing his mistake, Onegin professes his love for Tatiana, who despite her lingering passions rejects him, leaving him alone and further grief-stricken.

The ballet gets off to a striking start with an image of a black bird preening itself on a barren tree branch while the orchestra plays a foreboding low ostinato, leading into a brief funerary prologue. The work then follows a four-season structure, starting with spring and ending with winter, each segment kicking off with a different troop of Spirits, a fresh invention of Possokhov’s that provides a sort of palette cleanser between the dramatic scenes and banishes any potential mustiness from the centuries-old story.

Two hallmarks of Possokhov’s ballets are here in abundance - arresting visuals and roles for men that are as equally meaty as those for the women. Although occasional Balanchine influences are evident in the fierce attack, off-vertical positions and folk-dance underpinnings, Possokhov is not a “Ballet is woman” kinda guy. There are also his trademark unorthodox lifts and constant kineticism. For a sorrow-drenched story that could easily become sludgy and lugubrious, this thing moves. Even with a prologue and four acts, it clocks in at a relatively swift two hours and fifteen minutes, including an intermission.

In Act 1, I especially liked the spinny/slouchy movement for the female Spring Spirits, even more so after seeing how it contrasts with the airborne hijinks of the male Summer Spirits at the top of Act 2. Later in that act, a startling move where Onegin repeatedly throws Olga up and around his shoulder has just the right mix of thrill and menace. You can easily see why this ticks off her fiancé. And an unorthodox lift in Act 4 between Tatiana and Gremin where he whooshes her around while she remains precariously horizontal gives intriguing insight into their relationship. Whether or not it’s a true love match may be an open question, but the pair have clearly forged a solid partnership built on mutual trust. I wasn’t as keen on the movement for a nightmare sequence with anthropomorphic creatures that comes across as confusing and clumsy rather than haunting and surreal.

Ilya Demutsky’s score is thoroughly engaging on first hearing, very danceable and cinematic, landing somewhere between Tchaikovsky and Max Steiner with a little Philip Glass minimalism around the edges. The strings are given some particularly lovely romantic themes, even if they sometimes bring to mind well-known showtunes like “Someone Else’s Story” and “Send in the Clowns.” I wasn’t always convinced that his tendency to lay on extra brass and vibraphone to heighten the drama was the right approach for this rueful story, I found his score quite compelling in its own right and look forward to giving it subsequent listens.

Oscar-winner Tim Yip’s costumes are often delightful, particularly the filmy, ombréd nightgowns, jammies and robes for the Spirits, each season distinctively different. I loved many of the stage pictures in Tom Pye’s sets, such as a striking ruby-red ballroom held up by towering white columns that dramatically transition into a furious concluding snowstorm, although some of the furniture elements like a writing desk and a dining table looked undersized and understated for a ballet of such heightened emotions. And the numerous instances of Onegin’s carriage parking itself downstage right felt clunky and unnecessarily intrusive.

The cast of some 50-plus dancers was terrific from top to bottom on opening night. Among the featured roles, Nikisha Fogo made a scintillating Lead Spring Spirit with her natural effervescence and liquid movement. Harrison James as Gremin provided bravura partnering in the aforementioned Act 4 pas de deux with Katherine Barkman, and Katita Waldo in the character role of a nanny was a delightful mix of starch and warmth.

The central quartet all brought something special to their roles. Wona Park was nicely dewy-eyed and sweetly romantic as Olga. Katherine Barkman danced gorgeously as the more restrained Tatiana, her line light and supple, even if she didn’t fully deliver the emotional goods in her more dramatic moments. Wei Wang as Lensky deftly made the transition from simpatico wingman to deeply conflicted duel partner and his innate elegance, a quality he shares with Joseph Walsh, helped make them a credible pair of best buds. Walsh has the trickier title role, as it’s hard to make Onegin’s peevishness affecting, though he danced gorgeously and indefatigably, particularly in his pre-duel “Are we really gonna do this? Oh, yes, we are.” pas de deux with Wang. And the ballet’s stunning final solo and tableau of Walsh in utter torment under a cataclysmic whirl of falling snow sends the audience home buzzing with excitement. Even with its occasional lapses, Eugene Onegin is quite something to see.

(all photos by Lindsey Rallo)

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