The Boris Eifman Ballet of St Petersburg has begun a run of performances of Eugene Onegin in Hanoi. The shows take place from 28 to 31 October at the Vietnam-USSR Friendship Cultural Palace of Labour. The capital leg follows four evenings in Ho Chi Minh City.
This is the company's second visit to Hanoi in two years. Tour director German Gureyev told journalists that the city had changed noticeably over the past year, and that he was struck by the pace of its development. In his words, Hanoi is an important destination with great potential in culture and other fields.
Honoured Artist of Russia Lyubov Andreeva, the company's leading soloist, also believes that Hanoi has every opportunity to host international artistic companies. She has danced with the company since 2011 and performed the roles of Tatyana and Olga in Onegin. In her words, every city is a new stage, and every performance brings different emotions. The dancer added that she does not form expectations about the audience's reception, as she values the moment of live performance itself. When a production moves to a new venue, the creative team always makes changes to adapt it to the features of the stage.
Boris Eifman created this ballet in 2009. The choreographer moved Pushkin's characters from nineteenth-century Russia into the present day, with its social changes and new codes of behaviour. At the centre of the story remains Onegin, who rejects Tatyana's sincere love and then recognises his own feelings when circumstances have already changed.
The score combines melodies by Pyotr Tchaikovsky with rock compositions by Alexander Sitkovetsky. For the premiere evening in Hanoi, the role of Onegin was danced by Artyom Lepkov, Tatyana by Viktoria Mokrousova, Lensky by Vladimir Afonichkin, and Olga by Mara Tudose.
The Eifman Ballet first toured Vietnam in 2025 with Anna Karenina. The current tour is organised with the participation of the Saigon Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vietnam National Theatre of Song, Dance and Music.
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