Matthew Bourne, an acolyte of musical theater, was 19 when he saw his first ballet -- a Scottish production of
Swan Lake at Londons Sadlers Wells Theater. He remembers thinking how cool it was not to have to wait for the dance numbers. It was literally like, Oh, its a musical where they dance all the time, he recalls. I loved it so much that I went to see it again the same week, but in another production that was completely different. I suppose that set me off in a way.
And how. Eight years later, Bourne was melding his various enthusiasms into a series of attention-grabbing dance pieces as director of his own company, Adventures in Motion Pictures. In
Spitfire, his first production, four men cavorted in tighty-whities in a delicious send-up of underwear ads and male vanity;
Deadly Serious was a comic paean to Hitchock; his
Nutcracker! came with an exclamation point (inspired by
Oliver!) and was set in a Dickensian orphanage.
So, when Bournes all-male version of
Swan Lake premiered in 1995, critics could be forgiven for expecting comic swans failing to execute their pas de deux. But there was nothing comic about them. They were muscular, feral, and thrilling. And despite Bournes playful wit and wink-wink references -- the queen has a clockwork corgi, a Soho nightclub scene includes Quentin Crisp and gay playwright Joe Orton -- the overall tone is dark and unabashedly homoerotic. Theres a resonance in it for a gay audience thats really moving, and its not something we shy away from, says Bourne. The prince in the piece, I think it can be said, is gay, and its something that hes had to repress because hes a royal.
For its return to New York City on October 13 (the Broadway debut in 1998 won Bourne two Tonys) the princes story has been heightened still further, the humor toned down. I never think my productions are perfect -- I always think they can be better, says Bourne. So the
Swan Lake that will be seen in New York will not be the
Swan Lake of 10 years ago.
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