New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures is reviving & touring his groundbreaking male-oriented Swan Lake - first premiered 29 years ago….
Harrison Dowzell (The Swan) and James Lovell (The Prince) in Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’. © Johan Persson.
New Adventures / Matthew Bourne
Swan Lake - The Next Generation
★★★★✰
London, Sadler’s Wells
11 December 2024
www.new-adventures.net
www.sadlerswells.com
It’s just over 29 years since Matthew Bourne unveiled his male-orientated take on Swan Lake (in November 1995), and I well remember the impact it had from the off. I started a website called Ballet.co in 1996, the year that Swan Lake first toured, and when I added the ability for people to chat about dance and ballet (years before the advent of Facebook, etc.), all anyone wanted to discuss was Bourne’s show. In 1997, Swan Lake was part of the Royal Variety Performance, toured the USA, and was shown in full at Christmas on the BBC. The late ’90s seemed a time of peak Swan ’madness’ as it attracted many into the dance fold. Time and again, I would sit next to people at other shows who would say they had “seen that Bourne Swan Lake and wanted to try some other dance.” It was a groundbreaking production, not only in itself but also for expanding the audience for dance, coining the term ‘dancical’ for its slick approach and long runs/tours that made it easily accessible. And Matthew Bourne has been a trusted choreographer and brand ever since.
Bourne innately and effortlessly knows how to connect with the general public, moving them with dramatic movement and storytelling. The narrative is always clearly conveyed, and he is an inveterate tinkerer, constantly looking to refine the drama and choreography to enhance clarity or deepen the artistic interpretation. All of this is on display in this latest revival featuring a new generation of dancers, most of whom won’t even have been born when the Royal Ballet’s Adam Cooper first created the Swan role back in 1995.
Like the original, the Bourne Swan Lake centres on an unhappy prince and a swan lover but resets the action to the 1950s, with the prince unhappy in his skin and with his role in life. His mother, the Queen, is focused on duty while privately enjoying a good time with male courtesans. Sadly his attempts to have a life with an inappropriately loud girlfriend are doomed to failure, as the pressures of celebrity culture and the tabloid press pile on the stress. While out alone, he encounters a flock of male swans, and everything suddenly all clicks into place. The lead Swan is not just charismatic to him but attracts all genders, with even the Queen being seduced by his charms. However, true love exists between the Prince and the Swan, even if their story inevitably ends in tragedy, as with so many Swan Lakes.
What astounds (yet again) is just how pacey the production is and how it squeezes in so much clever detail and amusing satirical asides. It seems that wherever you look on stage, some little cameo bit of drama or gag is being played out. Of course everything looks gorgeous courtessy of Lez Brotherston’s terrific designs. The hallmark of Bourne’s company has always been his employment of stunning dance actors, and this latest group is well up to scratch in selling the work. Not only are they great communicators, but they have been touring the production for a month now and have been dancing at The Wells this past week, all ahead of the press night — the delivery is super slick, with tons of energy.
The heart of Swan Lake is its flock of male swans, and the choreography for them remains as intriguing as ever. Feral and threatening one moment, alluring the next, they are far more complex characters than those in any traditional Swan Lake. These are swans with agency and serious attitude, and that still resonates with today’s society. Although they dance with bare feet, if they wore footwear it would undoubtedly be DMs. Harrison Dowzell’s lead swan (The Swan) has a magnetic stage presence and effortlessly shifts between controlling machismo and a softer side — he seems as confused as the prince, although the Swan would never admit that. The Prince character would certainly talk about his doubts regarding life, and James Lovell delivers the confusion and what proves to be a fleeting love in a highly believable portrayal. Nicole Kabera’s Queen is a less nuanced role and character — that’s doing duty for you, but there’s room to colour and grow it more, I think. More fully formed from the outset is the Girlfriend, danced by Katrina Lyndon — she displays wonderful comedic timing in toe-curlingly embarrassing skits; we really warm to her. A glorious confection, and I so want to know what the character does next in life — but it will undoubtedly include endless appearances on the C-list celebrity circuit.
Does Bourne’s Swan Lake move me as much as a traditional ballet ‘Lac’? It’s a different beast, told in a different way, where all the dancers are knowingly performing for us out front. That’s oh so inclusive, clever, and part of the success, but the drama of lead dancers just seemingly performing for each other, with us looking in, can draw me in a bit further. That’s being picky about a great night of iconic dance that had us all standing in ovation at the end. We were standing not just for this cast, but for all casts in a special Swan Lake created by a master dance maker like no other — Matthew Bourne.