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<\/a><\/p>\nHouston Ballet Principal Connor Walsh as Onegin in John Cranko\u2019s Onegin.<\/p>\n
Photo by Alana Campbell (2025). Courtesy of Houston Ballet. <\/p>\n
\n Houston Ballet is made of not only world-class dancers, but acting powerhouses, which is crucial to a ballet that requires a lot of character work, like Onegin. As usual, the company shines in works like these, and Onegin is no different. (It\u2019s worth noting that aside from our main characters, there are also many funny little character moments throughout the group scenes to entertain you, like Kellen Hornbuckle\u2019s angry pout across the stage or Riley McMurray\u2019s partner indecision.) Across the board, the ensemble impresses, particularly during the first act.\n <\/p>\n
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There\u2019s the fanciful play of the women\u2019s group and the high-jumping, knee-dropping men, whose choreography is flavored with bits that harken back to Russian folk dance and simply fun to watch. And, of course, there\u2019s a frolicking, rollicking group dance toward the end of the first scene of Act I, which culminates in the coupled-up ensemble crossing the stage, this way and then that, the women in leaping jet\u00e9s with support from their partners. It\u2019s as exciting a display as one can see and well deserving of the enthusiastic round of applause it elicited.\n <\/p>\n
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As the titular character, Connor Walsh strikes quite the imposing figure. Onegin appears dressed in all black, back ramrod straight and nose turned up, the expression on his face that of a man in the midst of an existential crisis and not panicked by it, but resigned. But though the show bears his character\u2019s name, make no mistake about it: This ballet is all about Tatiana, a role beautifully played by Karina Gonz\u00e1lez.\n <\/p>\n
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As Tatiana, Gonz\u00e1lez brilliantly captures both the girlish longing in Tatiana\u2019s youth \u2013 exhibited with heartbreaking clarity during her Act II solo, her eyes repeatedly straying to Onegin, begging for his attention and visibly disheartened when it\u2019s not received \u2013 and the harder-earned maturity of her adulthood. She takes the first step toward that maturity at the close of the second act, the tables turned as she is now the one standing up straight and looking at Onegin head-on, rose-colored glasses off, as he falls apart following his duel with Lensky.\n <\/p>\n