Ruth Leon recommends… Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – New Adventures
Ruth Leon recommendsMatthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
No, please, not The Nutcracker again. I know, it’s the season, but there can’t be a 10-year old girl on either side of the Atlantic who hasn’t been taken to see the old girl at least once. Take her again, if you must, but for you, instead, take a grown-up look at what is still one of the most innovative ballet knock-offs ever, Matthew Bourne’s history-making take on that whitest of white ballets, Swan Lake.
Matthew Bourne’s ground breaking reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake, which transformed the world of dance, is captured on film for the first time. Famous for its all-male corps de ballet, the 1995 production became Broadway’s longest-running full-length dance classic.
In this cinematic adaptation, Bourne and his award-winning collaborators–Lez Brotherston (set and costume design) and Paule Constable (lighting design)—continue to push artistic boundaries, delivering a thrilling reimagining of their original vision.
Liam Mower’s emotionally charged portrayal of the Prince, paired with his intense and dangerous romance with Will Bozier’s Swan, ensures this rendition of Swan Lake remains as powerful and captivating as ever.
I have missed that nutscracker for a year! I’m much looking forward to it again, with my two sisters and I’ll force my fiancé this time, I’ll make sure he won’t cop out again like last time.
Sally
For many Americans there are only three classical works worth a damn and at Christmastime we get two: The Nutcrackera and Messiah. (The third being that traditional all-American monstrosity for July 4th: Overture “1812”.)
What ballet companies we have are very much stuck in routine, traditional versions of Tchaikovsky and this “new”, thirty year old Bourne version wouldn’t sit well with many viewers. I’d love to see it and need to find out how and where.
It never dates I’ve seen it everytime it comes around. Saw it last week could have gone again the next day that’s hiw good it is.
Ruth Leon’s link is to Marquee TV.
I find it strange that a music blog is promoting a ballet company that is notorious among orchestral players for frequently putting on productions with recorded music, not live orchestra. I would never pay to go and see this lot.
I recall Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo doing an all-male Swan.
Maybe not the whole Swan…