12:07pm Thursday 18th March 2010
The all-male Swan Lake which forged Matthew Bourne’s reputation owes a debt of gratitude to North-East inspired Billy Elliot.
Viv Hardwick reports.
MATTHEW Bourne’s controversial all-male ballet Swan Lake is now wing-tip to wing-tip with North-East audiences and still attracting attention partly thanks to Lee Hall’s film Billy Elliot, which features the final scene of a grown-up Billy flying through the air on stage.
The iconic piece of cinematography captures Bourne’s choreography from his 1995 decision to re-write the Swan Lake story which ruffled the feathers of ballet purists.
Bourne, who turned 50 in January, went on to win a host of awards and accolades.
But 15 years on, Swan Lake has returned to Saddlers Wells in London and sold out 55 shows before touring to Newcastle Theatre Royal until March 27.
On that Billy Elliot moment, Bourne says: “It was very important to us. We were well established by that time but the international success of the film meant a worldwide audience saw Swan Lake. It was a unique and inspirational ending of a fantastic story.”
Does he really see himself as a rebel in the ballet world?
“No. Obviously our work is different so I suppose people initially saw me as a bit of a rebel but I didn’t deliberately set out to shock the ballet establishment.
“I don’t come from a classical ballet background so that gives me a different perspective. I only do what feels good for me, interpreting what is already there.”
The man who hung up his own dancing shoes for good in 1999 readily admits his style is greatly influenced by movies and popular culture.
“I was born in 1960 and that was a fantastic period for films. I was also brought up with great musicals on the television; Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly were particular heroes. The dancing and singing were fantastic.”
Bourne directed and choreographed Play Without Words in 2002 which was inspired by the film The Servant and in 2005 he won an Olivier for his choreography in the stage production of Mary Poppins.
Another Bourne classic, The Car Man (2000), is his dance interpretation of Bizet’s opera Carmen but with a homoerotic twist based on the film The Postman Always Rings Twice.
His 2005 dance adaptation of Edward Scissorhands is inspired by the film starring Johnny Depp while the Bourne choreographed Nutcracker (2002) is an adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, which draws on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and the works of Charles Dickens.
In this, he made the characters quite grotesque and introduced a more openly sexual element, something that permeates all of his work. Swan Lake, which has been described as a riveting work of psychological and sexual intrigue, was influenced in part by Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
Coming to dance relatively late, Bourne also draws on references from his previous life when he worked at the BBC filing and as an archivist and in a book shop.
He says: “People are also a great source of inspiration. I travelled a lot when I was younger and mixed with people of all different backgrounds and nationalities. My mind is open to all things. I believe all of these experiences helped give me a wider perspective than dancers and choreographers who start their careers early, straight from school.”
And back to Swan Lake.
“We like to revisit Swan Lake every few years. It’s a piece that just gets more and more popular worldwide. Obviously Billy Elliot gave us a massive boost, but word of mouth is the best advertisement and every time it plays we have new people coming along.”
Asked about the appeal of Swank Lake to North-East audiences, Bourne adds: “It speaks volumes for our appreciation of the region that Swan Lake is coming to Newcastle for two weeks. We’re doing 16 shows and having played the Theatre Royal on numerous occasions we know just how appreciative and discerning North-East audiences are.
“They aren’t too timid to tell me directly what they want and as an audience they are always receptive when we try something new. They trust us. For example, when we brought Dorian Grey to the Theatre Royal a couple of years ago we were a bit concerned because it is a highly sensual piece and very different from work we were doing five or six years ago. We needn’t have worried, though.
The response was incredible. Like I said, a discerning audience. We couldn’t wait to come up North.”
■ Swan Lake runs until Saturday, March 27. Evening performances at 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees on Saturdays and 2pm matinee on Thursday, March 25. Tickets: £9.50-£35. Box Office: 08448-112-121 theatreroyal.co.uk
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