DAN302_Johnson

DAN 302 FINAL PROJECT BY: MADISON JOHNSON

WHO IS MATTHEW BOURNE? •

Ma#hew Bourne is the well renowned Bri2sh choreographer and dancer noted for his uniquely updated interpreta2ons of tradi2onal ballet repertoire.

• He was born January 13, 1960 in Hackney, London.

• His dance training began rela/vely late, at the age of 22. But quickly, he became elite at the ar=orm and earned a bachelor’s degree in dance theatre and choreography from Laban Centre.

• He began his professional career by touring with Transi6ons, the Centre’s dance company. Bourne danced professionally for 12 more years then became more focused on choreographic work.

• In 1987, MaFhew Bourne cofounded the London-based company Adventures in Mo6on Pictures (AMP) and served as its Ar6s6c Director un6l 2002. In 1992, he set the Christmas Eve scene of Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s, The Nutcracker. In 1994, he showcased his version of Filippo Taglioni’s La Sylphide, Highland Fling. Then In 1995 ,the AMP premiered Bourne’s controversial restaging of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

• Bourne’s award status is phenomenal. He has twice been nominated as best director at the Olivier Awards and his achievements in choreography have been recognized with over 30 interna6onal awards. In 1996, Swan Lake won the Laurence Oliver Award for the best new dance produc6on. Two years later it opened on Broadway, and Bourne won Tony Awards for direc6on and choreography.

Next in 2003, he was the recipient of the pres6gious Hamburg Shakespeare Prize for the Arts. Following in 2010, he was the first recipient of The Bri6sh Inspira6on Award.

• To this day, at 60 years old, MaFhew Bourne is con6nuing to create and explore new ways to impact the dance world.

MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE 2012 VariaUon of Swan Lake: hVps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQsECoq9XGM Performed by the New Adventures Dance Company

Cast: • Richard Winsor..........The Swan / The Stranger

• Length of production: 145 Minutes

• Dominic North..........The Prince

• Composer: Pyotr Llyic Tchaikovsky

• Nina Goldman..........The Queen

• The Original World Premiere: Nov 9, 1995 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London

• Steve Kirkham..........The Press Secretary • Madelaine Brennan..........The Girlfriend • Joseph Vaughan..........The Young Prince

• Original Ballet Company: New Adventures

I love the scenery of this ballet. It is so vibrant and utilizes such spirited colors that really bring the ballet to life. The set design and costumes are overall magnificent. What makes this contemporary ballet so unique is that the female dancers are performing the movement in character shoes.

Nevertheless, the dancers performed exceptionally.

MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE PT.2 Storyline/Brief Summary

How does this ballet reflect Bourne’s choreographic style?

• MaFhew Bourne tends to blow people away with his talents and ballets. Usually his dance dramas can make • Bourne’s work brings the tale of princeyou laugh, break your heart, and dazzle you meets-swan into the present day. His hero simultaneously. Bourne as a tendency to reinterpret is a repressed modern royal, dominated by the tradi6onal legends and storylines of ballets and his regal mother and her Machiavellian make them unique. His choreographic style, specifically press secretary, barred from emo?onal for the ballet Swan Lake, is intricate and contemporary. outlets. His Swan is everything the Prince As musicality being one of his focal points in crea6vity, needs and can’t have. The contemporary Bourne likes to build rhythms and paFerns in the ballet shows a depic?on of male love, both dancers’ souls that reflect the beat of the orchestra.

Bourne has much musical theatre prac6ce in fierce and tender. background, so you can really see that being expressed in his choreography. Furthermore, he teaches and directs his dancers to be expressive and effec6ve in storytelling through their ar6stry. Overall, MaFhew Bourne’s choreographic style of contemporary dance and dance theatre is inspired from his radical interpreta6ons of classical ballets.

STAR RATINGS: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

CRITIC REVIEW SUMMARY OF BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE

• Matthew Bourne loves to test the waters and his style tends to add a total spin to his ballets. His version of Swan Lake showed exactly that with causing a stir by replacing the white swan and her flock with male dancers. But the casting choices represent more than a gender-swap; Bourne turns the tale inside out to tell a story of sexual transgression and self-discovery. His version of Swan Lake is a prime example of his mastery storytelling and eye-opening choreography.

Sources of Reviews LOS ANGELES TIMES

BY LEWIS SEGAL DEC. 6, 2019 SWAN LAKE REVIEW h#ps://www.la2mes.com/en tertainment-arts/story/201912-06/ma#hew-bourneswan-lake-ahmanson-losangeles

NEW YORK THEATRE GUIDE

BY SARAH DOWNS FEBRUARY 3, 2020 MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE AT NEW YORK CITY CENTER REVIEW https://www.newyorktheatreguide.co m/reviews/review-of-matthewbournes-swan-lake-at-new-york-citycenter

HOW HAS BOURNE INSPIRED ME? • Knowing that MaUhew Bourne started his dance career tradi/onally late and s/ll made such a huge impact on the dance industry is so inspiring to me!

I love how he took a huge risk and challenged societal norms in his ballets, specifically Swan Lake.

His courage altered the dance community’s perspec/ve on ar/stry and as aspiring professional who hopes to leave a similar impact, I want to be similarly courageous. In each of Bourne’s produc/ons, his cast is so expressive and animated, so doing this research project has sparked an interest of musical theatre in me. I think it can really help me become in tune with my emo/ons and perform deeper than surface level.

WORKS CITED PAGE • Dick, Norah. “Dance Review: 'Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake' at the Kennedy Center.” Maryland Theatre Guide, 30 Jan. 2020, mdtheatreguide.com/2020/01/dance-review-matthew-bournes-swan-lake-at-thekennedy-center/.

• Downs, Sarah. “Review of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at New York City Center.” New York Theater Guide, New York Theater Guide, 3 Feb. 2020, www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/review-ofmatthew-bournes-swan-lake-at-new-york-city-center.

• “Review: Why Matthew Bourne's Male 'Swan Lake' Is Still Radical and Relevant, 24 Years Later.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2019, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-1206/matthew-bourne-swan-lake-ahmanson-los-angeles.

• Whitney, Barbara. “Matthew Bourne.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 9 Jan. 2020, www.britannica.com/biography/Matthew-Bourne.