For the first time since 2008, Houston Ballet has mounted a production of John Cranko’s Onegin . After seeing the show, the only real question is, why so long?

The ballet opens with the young country girl Tatiana, nose in a book and thoroughly uninterested in the preparations for her upcoming birthday festivities. As more girls gather, they decide to play a game, where supposedly one sees their future love in a mirror. While peering into the mirror, Tatiana catches a glimpse of Onegin, a friend of Olga’s fiancé Lensky, who is visiting from St. Petersburg. Tatiana is immediately enamored with this stranger, but Onegin shows little interest in her or anything else. Undeterred, Tatiana pens a love letter to Onegin that night and dreams of them together.

Unfortunately for Tatiana, the lett

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