Description: Matthew Bourne, director and choreographer of Adventures in Motion Pictures--a maverick new modern dance company based in London--brings a new twist to an old classic with this production of "Swan Lake." Taking advantage of the public's preoccupation with the ups and downs of the royal family, Bourne has set his story in the modern era and has cast all the swans--including the Odette/Odile role--as males. Boutne's creation brings great ballet to an audience it has never before reached, and for cognoscenti offers a new view of the breadth of possibilty in Tchaikovsky's well-loved score. "Swan Lake" enjoyed a sold-out run in London and a subsequent critically acclaimed and public-adored Broadway stint.
Amazon.com: Swan Lake became an unexpected popular hit when radical choreographer Matthew Bourne took Tchaikovsky's traditional ballet by the scruff of the neck and reworked it with a myriad of modern influences and themes to astonishing effect. Seldom have the dark psychological riptides at the heart of so many classical ballets been so brilliantly exposed. The Prince (Scott Ambler) is a wretched and dissolute young man dominated by his mother, the Joan Collins-like Queen (Fiona Ambler). Shades of Tennessee Williams, indeed. Von Rothbart becomes a press secretary, more sinister eminence grise than hissable villain. Most startling of all, the Swan (Adam Cooper) is a muscular, emphatically masculine male.
Bourne has stressed the universality of his interpretation, which proved such a success for his Adventures in Motion Pictures dance company. And indeed this is never an overtly "gay" Swan Lake, although the electricity of the pas de deux at the height of Act 2 delivers a palpably homoerotic charge. Its universal threads--as Bourne suggests, the need to be held and understood is common to us all--are synthesized in the utterly moving conclusion as the Swan cradles the lifeless Prince and raises him to a better place. Swan Lake becomes a human, rather than simply romantic, tragedy. --Piers Ford
beautiful I gave this to my brother for Christmas. He was thrilled. He said that is an excellent video of Swan Lake.
swan lake dvd I found the DVD of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake excellent material and I have some friends queuing up to borrow the DVD. It arrived on time as promised by Amazon and the DVD was well worth the cost and the wait.
Not a fan of the choroegraphy, but can't knock the idea Bourne's swan lake is an interesting twist on the traditional version. The choreography (especially for the swans) is very modern. Theatrical choreography is used throughout the show, which does have many good moments...but I can't say that I'm an overall fan of Bourne's choreography in this show. His Nuctracker is simply amazing though! When I saw Swan Lake live, I had the same feelings about it as I do about the video, but the "live" aspect at least allowed me to watch what ever I wanted to watch in the seen, and just made things more exciting all the way around.
Swan Lake Experience I saw the live version of this production in Brisbane (April 2007) and it was truly magical and amazing. I did notice a couple of changes since the filming of the DVD. I love that Matthew Bourne's male swans portray the strength and well-known aggression of real life swans (not always easy to watch) and thoroughly enjoyed the DVD performances. It is good to have the traditional version of Swan Lake to turn to as well though, as I believe that it is important to preserve the original classical masterpieces that have inspired generations of lovers of dance.
And You Think Ballet is Not For YOU - Think Again! If you remember the movie "Billy Elliot", Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake will be a great follow up. The last scene in Billy Elliot is of the Swan in this performance.
What Gilbert and Sullivan set out to do a century ago was to make opera popular with people who thought opera was above them. Bourne's work will have same effect on Ballet. It is truly wonderful and highly recommended.
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