Tag Archives: Swan Lake

Director/Choreographer: Matthew Bourne Music: Tchaikovsky Reviewer: Alex Ramon When Matthew Bourne collected his well-deserved Special Award at the Olivier ceremony two weeks ago, the prize was in recognition of a body of work that's not only significantly raised the profile of British dance but also helped to completely transform it as an art form. Principal among the productions that have ...

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreographer/Director: Matthew Bourne Reviewer: John Roberts Nearly 25 years ago, Matthew Bourne premiered his version ofSwan Lake, a production that not only found him struggling to bring together a creative team to agree to work on his “male” version of the classic ballet, but also take his then company Adventures in Motion Pictures from just a ...

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreographer: Matthew Bourne Director: Matthew Bourne Design: Lez Brotherston Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys It isn't hyperbole to say that Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake changed the face of classical dance forever. Retaining Tchaikovsky's original score, the rest of the ballet is turned completely on its head. For all its fantasy, in Bourne's hands the story takes on a ...

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreographer: Matthew Bourne Reviewer: Katy Roberts Since its world premiere in 1995, Matthew Bourne’s thrilling production of Swan Lake has gone from strength to strength. Plagued by walkouts from male audience members during its first run, Bourne’s decision to take the traditional love story of the white swan, Odette, and her Prince and turn it completely ...

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Director and Choreographer: Matthew Bourne Reviewer: Sophia Moss “Don’t feed the swans” reads the sign standing next to a park bench where The Prince (Liam Mower) is writing a suicide note. Drunk and despondent, the prince plans to drown himself in Swan Lake, but before he can take his life, smoke starts to engulf the space ...

Music: Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky Choreography: Derek Deane after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov Conductor: Gavin Sutherland Reviewer: John Roberts  Swan Lake is arguably the most instantly recognisable name in the Ballet repertoire, its story is ultimately universal thanks to its themes of love and loss, betrayal and forgiveness, traits and characteristics that everyone can relate so it will always be able ...

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Director: Konstantin Tachkin Reviewer: Scott Matthewman If one were on the hunt for something original in a production of Swan Lake, St Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s production, newly arrived in the London Coliseum, is not the place to look. This is as solidly traditional as they come. The original plans for Odette, the princess condemned to life as ...

Creator: Elf Lyons Reviewer: Simon Topping Elf Lyons’ show Swan is too good to miss. Entering the stage in a parrot costume, bought from eBay for too much money, along with several other ill-advised purchases and speaking Franglish like a combination of Officer Crabtree from Allo Allo, with a pinch of Stanley Unwin, Lyons is already delighting the crowd. The night, we ...