Retaining the iconic elements of the original production loved by millions around the world, Matthew Bourne and award-winning designers Lez Brotherston (set & costumes) and Paule Constable (lighting) will create an exciting reimagining of the classic New Adventures production.
Thrilling, audacious, witty, and emotive, this Swan Lake is perhaps still best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male ensemble, which shattered conventions, turned tradition upside down, and took the dance world by storm.
Yes, it’s true that the power of its gender-swapped casting has mellowed somewhat – watching two impossibly beautiful, impossibly athletic, and impossibly graceful men dance together with smoldering chemistry no longer feels transgressive (thank goodness) – and that AIDS, which cast a long and overt shadow over the ballet when it debuted at the height of the epidemic, no longer seems like such an inevitable part of the subtext. Nevertheless, to see it is to be reminded that the work of a visionary artist is not only timeless, but also worth experiencing over and over again.
Bourne’s SWAN LAKE manages to modernize an old favorite with the introduction of male swans – all the while adding new zest and titillation into the story. Because – for all the subtlety of Tchaikovsky and flowing dance – SWAN LAKE has become a truly erotic journey with overwhelming sensual suggestions and racy undertones.
As always, Tchaikovsky’s score is a masterpiece, the performance, powerful, the dancing, impeccable; overall this show makes for the consummate holiday treat, sure to ruffle your feathers.
What we realize in Bourne’s brilliant re-creation of this balletic chestnut is how fresh it can still be and how marvelously accurate it is its conception...
...Swan Lake, as last night’s audience acclaimed it in their long applause, may be the perfect holiday balletic event. But I warn you, don’t take your young child to this; it is not The Nutcracker.
In Bourne’s adventurous Swan Lake, now in a return engagement at The Ahmanson Theatre, the story has been completely upended and made contemporary. And it is an astonishing spectacle to behold...
To say that this is a tour-de-force performance just isn’t strong enough praise...
If you see only one ballet this season or year, make it Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake.
In the end, Bourne’s tale endures and indeed weathers a 21st century’s jaded eye. What’s not to love about the call of the magical other, a wild and seemingly untamable creature that enters one’s life, alerting it forever?
While dance is the visionary director-choreographer’s weapon of choice, it’s a means of expressing a grander narrative. Bourne’s genius is in his ability to lure audiences to said medium and make wordless stories leap from the stage. In Swan Lake he not only updates the overall aesthetic with brazen eroticism, he revamps the story to heightened emotional impact.
Sensational artistry on display. The ballet of male swans on the lake is breathtaking. Bourne has done it again, taking everyone on a magical ride to the heavens. Tchaikovsky's music is so powerful.
So if you’re that wonderfully wholesome and naive family looking for a little high culture with your curious teens, what better way to have a conversation about gender and sex and evil spells than gazing at a stage full of half naked men?
And if you’re looking for a work of art that’s as poignant and beautiful as it was a quarter of a century ago, this “Swan Lake” fits the bill.
I was among those Angelinos fortunate enough to discover Matthew Bourne when he made his Ahmanson debut back in ’97, and I’ve gone back to re-experience his brilliance many times since. At 22 years of fandom and counting, I declare his breathtaking Swan Lake the most magnificent Bourne of all.
Combining traditional ballet movements with contemporary dance realignments coupled with old-fashioned stories with a modern twist, Bourne manages to create some novel and fascinating takes on the old masters. Bourne’s New Adventures is a ground-breaking British dance/theater company which never fails to breathe new life into its many projects.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake: The Legend Returns, playing now at the Ahmanson, is a work of such beauty that its exquisiteness lies in the sheer audacity of its own existence. The re-telling of the classic ballet through the ingenious queer lens of a master storyteller is awe-inspiring.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is so magical that I feel like I still haven’t told you enough. I loved it so much that I have the urge to give Matthew my first born!
We’re left with the sensation that we’ve experienced artistry beyond our own limited imaginings: the flawless blending of visuals with this magnificent score, the uniquely athletic dancing, the penetrating study of the mind.
Legend? Not really. It’s still too fresh and feisty to be tagged with that kind of reverential label. Call it an epic, if you like, still gloriously pertinent and impertinent in the best Bourne tradition.
Marketing for the updated and much anticipated remounting of Sir Matthew Bourne’s trailblazing reinvention of one of the world's most beloved ballets at the Ahmanson, where the production made its American debut on this same stage in 1997 before going on to fame and adulation all around the globe, states this is the return of a work that “changed the dance landscape forever.” It’s a claim that, in this rare case, is undeniably not a puffed-up exaggeration at all.
On opening night at The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, SWAN LAKE was mesmerizing for numerous reasons. Without giving away too many spoilers, here are FIVE of the best reasons for seeing SWAN LAKE during its U.S. Tour.
This new and absolutely visually stunning production is thrilling, audacious, witty and emotive, but is perhaps best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male swan ensemble, which shattered conventions, turned tradition upside down, and took the dance world by storm when it premiered. And I guarantee the new staging carries on all those Matthew Bourne traditions with the even more menacing Will Bozier (sharing the role with Max Westwell) as the leader of the swans whose overpowering sensuality and sexual charisma, not to mention his amazing leaping prowess, manages to steal the heart and soul of the Prince (Andrew Monaghan, sharing the role with James Lovell) as well as the Queen (Nicole Kabera, sharing the role with Katrina Lyndon), and every other being who crosses his path. This is especially true when he appears at an invitation-only royal party, dressed in tight black leather with riding crop in hand, and proceeds to enchant everyone in the room. Yes, I admit even I was ready to jump onstage just to be closer to his overwhelming animal magnetism!
Yes, it’s true that the power of its gender-swapped casting has mellowed somewhat – watching two impossibly beautiful, impossibly athletic, and impossibly graceful men dance together with smoldering chemistry no longer feels transgressive (thank goodness) – and that AIDS, which cast a long and overt shadow over the ballet when it debuted at the height of the epidemic, no longer seems like such an inevitable part of the subtext. Nevertheless, to see it is to be reminded that the work of a visionary artist is not only timeless, but also worth experiencing over and over again.
Bourne’s SWAN LAKE manages to modernize an old favorite with the introduction of male swans – all the while adding new zest and titillation into the story. Because – for all the subtlety of Tchaikovsky and flowing dance – SWAN LAKE has become a truly erotic journey with overwhelming sensual suggestions and racy undertones.
As always, Tchaikovsky’s score is a masterpiece, the performance, powerful, the dancing, impeccable; overall this show makes for the consummate holiday treat, sure to ruffle your feathers.
What we realize in Bourne’s brilliant re-creation of this balletic chestnut is how fresh it can still be and how marvelously accurate it is its conception...
...Swan Lake, as last night’s audience acclaimed it in their long applause, may be the perfect holiday balletic event. But I warn you, don’t take your young child to this; it is not The Nutcracker.
In Bourne’s adventurous Swan Lake, now in a return engagement at The Ahmanson Theatre, the story has been completely upended and made contemporary. And it is an astonishing spectacle to behold...
To say that this is a tour-de-force performance just isn’t strong enough praise...
If you see only one ballet this season or year, make it Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake.
In the end, Bourne’s tale endures and indeed weathers a 21st century’s jaded eye. What’s not to love about the call of the magical other, a wild and seemingly untamable creature that enters one’s life, alerting it forever?
While dance is the visionary director-choreographer’s weapon of choice, it’s a means of expressing a grander narrative. Bourne’s genius is in his ability to lure audiences to said medium and make wordless stories leap from the stage. In Swan Lake he not only updates the overall aesthetic with brazen eroticism, he revamps the story to heightened emotional impact.
Sensational artistry on display. The ballet of male swans on the lake is breathtaking. Bourne has done it again, taking everyone on a magical ride to the heavens. Tchaikovsky's music is so powerful.
So if you’re that wonderfully wholesome and naive family looking for a little high culture with your curious teens, what better way to have a conversation about gender and sex and evil spells than gazing at a stage full of half naked men?
And if you’re looking for a work of art that’s as poignant and beautiful as it was a quarter of a century ago, this “Swan Lake” fits the bill.
I was among those Angelinos fortunate enough to discover Matthew Bourne when he made his Ahmanson debut back in ’97, and I’ve gone back to re-experience his brilliance many times since. At 22 years of fandom and counting, I declare his breathtaking Swan Lake the most magnificent Bourne of all.
Combining traditional ballet movements with contemporary dance realignments coupled with old-fashioned stories with a modern twist, Bourne manages to create some novel and fascinating takes on the old masters. Bourne’s New Adventures is a ground-breaking British dance/theater company which never fails to breathe new life into its many projects.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake: The Legend Returns, playing now at the Ahmanson, is a work of such beauty that its exquisiteness lies in the sheer audacity of its own existence. The re-telling of the classic ballet through the ingenious queer lens of a master storyteller is awe-inspiring.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is so magical that I feel like I still haven’t told you enough. I loved it so much that I have the urge to give Matthew my first born!
We’re left with the sensation that we’ve experienced artistry beyond our own limited imaginings: the flawless blending of visuals with this magnificent score, the uniquely athletic dancing, the penetrating study of the mind.
Legend? Not really. It’s still too fresh and feisty to be tagged with that kind of reverential label. Call it an epic, if you like, still gloriously pertinent and impertinent in the best Bourne tradition.
Marketing for the updated and much anticipated remounting of Sir Matthew Bourne’s trailblazing reinvention of one of the world's most beloved ballets at the Ahmanson, where the production made its American debut on this same stage in 1997 before going on to fame and adulation all around the globe, states this is the return of a work that “changed the dance landscape forever.” It’s a claim that, in this rare case, is undeniably not a puffed-up exaggeration at all.
On opening night at The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, SWAN LAKE was mesmerizing for numerous reasons. Without giving away too many spoilers, here are FIVE of the best reasons for seeing SWAN LAKE during its U.S. Tour.
This new and absolutely visually stunning production is thrilling, audacious, witty and emotive, but is perhaps best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male swan ensemble, which shattered conventions, turned tradition upside down, and took the dance world by storm when it premiered. And I guarantee the new staging carries on all those Matthew Bourne traditions with the even more menacing Will Bozier (sharing the role with Max Westwell) as the leader of the swans whose overpowering sensuality and sexual charisma, not to mention his amazing leaping prowess, manages to steal the heart and soul of the Prince (Andrew Monaghan, sharing the role with James Lovell) as well as the Queen (Nicole Kabera, sharing the role with Katrina Lyndon), and every other being who crosses his path. This is especially true when he appears at an invitation-only royal party, dressed in tight black leather with riding crop in hand, and proceeds to enchant everyone in the room. Yes, I admit even I was ready to jump onstage just to be closer to his overwhelming animal magnetism!
