Virtual Museum

Onegin

About the Ballet

A dazzling and powerful dance-drama, Onegin has become one of this century’s most important and sought-after full-length ballets. Based on the narrative poem Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin and Pyotr Ilyich 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. Onegin was originally created by John Cranko in 1965 for Stuttgart Ballet, the company for which he was Artistic Director. Cranko chose not to use the music from Tchaikovsky’s opera, instead he specially commissioned an arrangement and orchestration of other Tchaikovsky compositions. Cranko’s ballet has brought the love story to life for thousands of people all over the world and introduced the story to thousands of others who haven’t read Pushkin’s epic poem. Since the ballet’s premiere in 1965, Onegin has remained in the active repertoire of Stuttgart Ballet and is now performed by companies around the world.

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Ballet Notes

Get more insight into the production - Ballet Notes are detailed guides to the company's dynamic repertoire. Read the synopsis and articles and view more photos in the Onegin Ballet Notes.

Read the 2014 Ballet Notes