Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

MATTHEW BOURNE'S SWAN LAKE IS FEISTY, FIERCE, AND ENTIRELY FULFILLING WITH ITS ENRAPTURING, HYPNOTISING AND BEGUILING DANCERS ENTERING NEW DIMENSIONS OF DANCE

Is there anything that screams ballet more than Swan Lake?  And is there anything that screams outstanding, trendsetting dance more than Sir Matthew Bourne?  Put the two together and you have a receipt for success, one I’ve been unable to get a ticket for in past years, but tonight Christmas has come early as I finally got to behold this spectacular show!  And never has anything been more worth the wait!  Premiering in 1995, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake forever changed the world of dance, challenging its preconceptions by breathing a visceral new life force into stories and steps that had remained untouched for years.  Today it may not seem shocking to have an all male troupe of swans and a same sex love story, but this is only thanks to pioneers like Bourne, who fiercely believed that dance should express stories that represent everyone and be brave enough to deconstruct the traditional untouched rules.

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, The Next Generation is on tour to celebrate its 30th anniversary, 30 years of awards, innovation and celebration that have made it the most successful dance theatre production of all time.  This production has fluffed out its feathers, spread its wings and taken flight with a whole new flock of dancers, absorbing the soaring and enchanting music of Tchaikovsky with Bourne’s bespoke passion and vision. 

Bourne’s Swan Lake introduces the Prince, a lavish yet lonely man of privilege with a steely, ice Queen mother whose veins freeze with loathing at her sons naivety and haplessness.  We watch him carry out his Royal duty with a lack lustre enthusiasm, only made bearable by the company of his new girlfriend, who the Queen believes is too common and highly inappropriate.  And so it is she arranges to have her paid off.  Though the girlfriend refuses, the money is thrust upon her and the Prince witnessing this, misinterprets.  Heartbroken he gets drunk and goes to the lake, ready to drown himself.  He is stopped in his track by the swans, who are a far cry from the ones you’d find in the traditional ballet.  They hiss, bite, and carry their own brand of untamed beauty, but The Prince is entirely hypnotised and besotted.  He experiences a new attraction and is pulled back from the brink.  We later see him at one of The Queen's lavish parties, where The Stranger appears dressed in black and with a self assured swagger, exploding with a succulent sexual arrogance and predatory nature.  The Prince is teased and tormented to the edge of his limits by The Stranger and the party ends with a brutal and passion fuelled outcome.  Plagued by his own disturbed mind, The Prince is ‘treated’ by doctors as his visions of violent yet graceful swans blur the edges of his reality, until we no longer know what is real and what is hallucinated.

This version, ‘The Next Generation’, is feisty, fierce, and entirely fulfilling with its enrapturing, hypnotising and beguiling dancers entering new dimensions of dance.  It is a smorgasbord of style, delicately refined, yet vehemently feral.  It enables individuality to shine, opening up the possibility for rich and playful characters, rather than a flock of identical dancers. Bourne takes a classic and teases it open to discover the magic hiding between every nuance, every step, every note.  He explores love in its many representations and it is a sight to behold.  These dancers are also exemplary actors and they will make your heart take flight, plumet or free fall as their raw emotions are visibly etched on their faces and rippled through their movements.  It is a prudent reminder that this is not a ballet company, but that New Adventures is a dance theatre company.

Lez Brotherston’s set designs and costumes as always, are iconic, epitomising the swans in a whole new light.  From glorious bees and butterflies, glistening with jewels and sequins, to the infamous feathered swans – you will hold your breath and be continually mesmerised at the designs.  The Queen's party sees everyone dressed in black, a symbol of The Black Swan, and it is stunning.  The set is a work of art, bringing us the opulence of Royalty clashing against a seedy nightclub and a stark, bleak lake, which would have looked at home in any Tim Burton film!  The way in which one scene so easily transforms into another is brilliant, and the way dimensions are explored is tantalising.  Paule Constable’s lighting cleverly plays around with shadows, suggesting a lurking danger, then flips to a lush extravagance.  Duncan McClean’s video and projection design are poised and ready for maximum impact, aligning beautifully with the musical climaxes.

Jackson Fisch was utterly spellbinding and hypnotic as the Swan / Stranger. His Swan was unbelievable, embodying the animal with every nuance and move he made.  What really stood out for me was the way he portrayed the build up of trust between animal and human, leaning into connection and vulnerability one moment, only to quickly be on alert, unsure how safe he truly is the next.  As The Stranger Fisch was full of sexual arrogance and intoxicating charisma, owning the room and everybody in it.  He was able to control with a simple look let alone the undeniably impressive dance! 

Stephen Murray as the Prince was not only full of precision and ease, he balanced a range of emotions through his physicality and expression, taking us from spoilt, to desolate, from love to despair.  His desire to be loved, to matter was palpable and the way he was physically able to express the different kinds of love he longed for from maternal to friendship to romantic, showcased his diverse talent.

Ashley Shaw brought us a self absorbed, regal Queen who quite clearly believed herself better than everyone else.  Her stand offish demur throughout was only weakened by The Stanger and by The Prince right at the end. Shaw knows how to enter the stage and make it her own.  Her partner work highlighted both her dance and acting skills further, for each represented a different layer to The Queens inner core.  Bryony Wood as the girlfriend was an excellent character actor and held the audience in the palm of her hand, bringing Bourne's witty humour and observations to life.  She was hilarious in the scene at the theatre, epitomising every possible annoying audience member there is, from chatting, to rustling sweets, loudly flicking through the programme, laughing in the wrong places, and even dropping her purse over the balcony.  Benjamin Barlow Bazeley as the Private Secretary was swarve and often intimidating, able to make himself invisible in plain sight whilst following The Prince or the Girlfriend.  He was exactly what this role demanded of him, unnerving, strong, reliable and secure.

There is always so much to admire and devour in any Matthew Bourne production and Swan Lake is no exception.  The playful humour of a ‘ballet within a dance show’ allowed a loving poke at some of the more traditional elements that can seem over the top and unreachable by many audience members, and that is why the Girlfriend was vital in this scene because she burst into laughter as the male lead entered.  What was also incredibly clever was this scene mirrored the storyline of the Swan being hunted and the resulting fight between Prince Siegfried and Rothbart from the traditional ballet, albeit it with bees, butterflies and an annoyed woodsman.  Then there is the bar scene where The Prince follows The Girlfriend to Swanks Bar and a Fosse-esque style dance scene greets us in all its glory.  The costume, lighting and dance create a stunning triple threat in this scene, with exquisite company dancing, moving in perfect synchronicity with each other.  And then we meet the Swans.  I am lost for words.  The movement and intricacies were spellbinding, from the jerky twitching neck movements, to the way arms and hands embodied the swans necks and beaks.  The power and strength alongside the serene and beautiful was captivating.  Every possible element of a swan had been studied and replicated through dance, right down to a swan landing in water, with an incredible leap that somehow led from the hips and saw the legs ripple forwards, flapping as they landed.  These swans felt more real to me than those in the traditional ballet, which are more a fairy tale version.  And to then turn these movements on their head for the ‘black swan’ section at The Queens party, with all guests dressed in black, and mirroring the intricate hand and arm movements of the swans through Spanish lines and Argentine Tango was a mastermind!  What I adore about this production is the openness with which we are allowed to witness malae dancers.  They are allowed to be delicate and beautiful, yet still hold a strength and masculinity.  They do not fall into either stereotype and this offers up a blissful freedom with no restraints, which in the hands of someone like Bourne produces the kind of creative genius that others strive to follow.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Sir Matthew Bourne is a Sir for a reason.  He delivers so much more than you could even begin to imagine was possible, and turns dance into his own art form, blending, manipulating and rewriting the rules and methods of those who have gone before.  It is a sublime experience to behold how he intertwines various dance styles against traditional music, effortlessly and respectfully blending the old and the new.  Adrenaline is guaranteed at a Bourne production and Swan Lake is no exception.  Reinvention channelled through Bourne’s irrepressible imagination results in excellence and I urge you to experience this for yourself.  It was the longest standing ovation I have ever experienced.  Swan Lake was a thrilling, effervescent night of opulent talent and it may have taken me several years longer than I wanted to be able to get a ticket, but my goodness, it was worth the wait.  

WE SCORE MATTHEW BOURNE'S SWAN LAKE...