When Bourne first announced The Red Shoes, tickets sold-out before its premiere season opened, such was the anticipation for this new work. The show toured again in 2019, but the run was sadly cut short by the 2020 Covid lockdowns. So, this tour feels landmark not just for its decade-long anniversary, but also for the excitement of seeing the production as if for the first time with Ashley Shaw, Dominic North, and Andy Monaghan reprising the principal roles they originated in 2016.

Those unfamiliar with the ballet will likely have some recollection of the story from the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale and Academy award-winning 1948 film starring Moira Shearer. Both versions won legions of fans and Bourne more than nods to this legacy in the cinematic scale of Lez Brotherston’s design, the telling of the fairy tale as a ballet within the ballet, and the nostalgic, post-war setting.

From the opening scene there is a sense of immersion into another world with a proscenium arch drawing us into a silent-movie theatre screen. The arch later revolves to switch the action seamlessly from onstage to backstage, home to theatre. While the ever-surprising set takes us on a journey through a range of other locations from real-world Monte Carlo and Covent Garden to more dream-like black and white sequences reminiscent of Wizard of Oz.

In terms of following a story, the main thread is a simple one – dancer with Ballet Lermontov, Victoria Page (Ashley Shaw) is given red ballet shoes from its impresario Boris Lermontov (Andy Monaghan) who urges her to forgo everything in pursuit of becoming the greatest dancer in the world. Meanwhile her heart is torn when she falls for composer, Julian Craster (Dominic North). The shoes have a life of their own creating an obsessive pull between art and life that eventually dance her to her death. Sound melodramatic? It is. And made all the more so by Terry Davies dramatic score featuring early music of Hollywood composer, Bernard Herrmann, best known for his work on Hitchcock films.

Fans of the film and children’s tale will no doubt be mesmerised by the story all over again, because Bourne has taken all the best bits and injected what the other art forms couldn’t – the real passion of live dance. And what a celebration of dance it is, with so many different styles on show from traditional en-pointe ballet to athletic contemporary split leaps; ballroom to a comical Egyptian walk.

In the programme notes Bourne describes The Red Shoes as ‘A personal love letter to a life spent in theatre and dance’ and that is exactly how it feels to watch. Open your heart and be swept away.

Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures The Red Shoes is at Lowry, Salford from 25 to 29 November 2025. Age Guidance 7+

New Adventures returns to Lowry in June 2026 with The Car Man.

Read our interview with Matthew Bourne.

The post Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes: Review appeared first on Quays Life.

The fairytale show, which tells of one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world, is based on the Academy award-winning film of the same name by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

This is the first time New Adventure’s magical dance version has toured since its 2020 tour was cut short due to the pandemic. Choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne talks to Quays Life about the story’s timeless appeal and the challenges of bringing it to the stage.

What is it about ‘The Red Shoes’ that attracted you as a story to adapt for dance?

Matthew Bourne: “It’s the story that Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger fashioned around Hans Andersen’s story of The Red Shoes for their seminal 1948 movie that really attracted me.

“I have loved the film since I was a teenager with its depiction of a group of people all passionate about creating something magical and beautiful. It seemed to be saying that art was something worth fighting for, even dying for, if the rather melodramatic conclusion is to be believed! It was a world full of glamour, romance and creativity populated by larger-than-life personalities. In short, it was a world that I wanted to be part of!

“The film’s genius though was to take that highly theatrical world and turn it into a highly cinematic, and at times, surreal piece of film-making. My challenge has been to capture some of that surreal, sensuous quality within the more natural theatre setting”.

What are the main themes of the story?

Matthew Bourne: “The main message of The Red Shoes is that nothing matters but art. As Michael Powell said, ‘The Red Shoes told us to go and die for art’. Whilst acknowledging the exaggeration here, I believe it was a piece that asked us to take art seriously as a life-changing force: something that gives intense joy but also asks for and requires sacrifices”.

How does it speak to the audience of today?

Matthew Bourne: “In today’s culture there seems an obsession with what it takes to become a great performer or artist. In recent years, the most popular shows on television have been about finding someone with star quality (The X Factor) or watching someone aquire the skills and dedication to become a great dancer (Strictly Come Dancing). Katherine Hepburn was once asked what ‘star-quality’ was and she replied, ‘I don’t know, but I’ve got it’. It’s an indefinable thing but we seem fascinated by it. The Red Shoes gives us a glimpse into that world, an insight into the art form of dance, a revealing backstage story into the minds of artists and the creative life”.

What are the differences between a dance company in 1948 and today?

Matthew Bourne: “The Red Shoes is a story about dance and dancers, something that we in New Adventures know a thing or two about! However, a dance company in 1948 was very different to dance company life today. When The Red Shoes was released in 1948, ballet was a relatively new and mysterious art form and the film was a genuine insight into a rare and extraordinary world of flamboyant personalities, glamorous women, fey men and obsessive, uptight creative figures with strange names and a range of international accents! Most, if not all of this has changed, of course, but I did see a similarity between the life of a hard-working touring company, full of slightly eccentric personalities and the world of New Adventures today. I don’t think a contemporary ballet company today would necessarily create the right atmosphere to re-create the company we see in the 1948 film. The family atmosphere of New Adventures with its group of talented, highly individual performers, who tour around the UK and the world as a tight knit community, seemed the right company to recreate the fictional Lermontov company of yesteryear”.

The performances and personalities in the famous film are legendary. How have the New Adventures dancers approached playing these characters?

Matthew Bourne: “Who can imagine The Red Shoes without Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Leonide Massine and perhaps, most of all, Anton Walbrook? This is something that we have all had to contemplate and boldly address. I think the New Adventures dancers, whether they knew the film before or not, have all fallen in love with these unique performers. Our task had been, I think, to honour them with the odd little ‘tribute’ but then to create our own characters as dictated by the story we are telling. Trying to recreate ‘special’ performers or performances is always a mistake and I’ve encouraged the dancers to find their own way. That has not stopped us though from all delving into countless biographies and YouTube clips to look for inspiration into the flavour of the period in which we are working and to gather anecdotes about dancers and dancing in the 1940s and 50s. All our ensemble dancers were given a famous dancer of this era to study and the clues are in their given names in the programme!”

You have chosen the music of celebrated Hollywood composer, Bernard Herrmann rather than the original Oscar-winning score from the film. Why?

Matthew Bourne: “I have a great affection for Brian Easdale’s very fine score for The Red Shoes Ballet in the film. It’s an impressive achievement by any standards and a first for a mainstream film to include an unheard of 15-minute ballet as its central story-telling device.

“A feature film that includes a featured ballet is very different from a full-length wordless dance piece in which the music has to not only serve the ballets that the company perform, but also the backstage life of the company and, most importantly, the emotional story of Vicky Page, Julian Craster and Boris Lermontov. I found this variety of ideas in the work of one of my favourite Hollywood composers, Bernard Herrmann. Herrmann is probably most famous for his work with Alfred Hitchcock but Terry Davies (who has brilliantly arranged the music) and I decided to concentrate on the pre-Hitchcock music and have uncovered some real gems.

“I’m very proud to be presenting much of this music in the theatre for the first time. There is so much to enjoy musically here; I think it is one of the revelations of this piece”.

Design always plays such a big part in New Adventures productions. What were the challenges on this project?

Matthew Bourne: “My Associate Designer, Lez Brotherston, took on another enormous challenge with this production. Firstly, to create an adaptable theatrical space depicting both on-stage and backstage, as well as and a range of locations from Covent Garden to Monte Carlo, but also to allow for those flights of fancy that take us out of the literal theatrical world and into the sensuous and surreal world of artistic endeavour. For this Lez and I also rely heavily on the brilliance of our lighting designer, Paule Constable who always manages to surprise and thrill me with her own vision of what we are all trying to achieve”.

Do you relate personally to any of the characters in the story?

Matthew Bourne: “Perhaps not surprisingly I have found myself agreeing with much of what Lermontov says in the movie. I am nothing like him, of course, and I do acknowledge that some of his views are a little extreme today, but I do understand his particular kind of love for Vicky and his love of his company and dance in general. Nothing else seems as important to him. As I get older, I recognise that sentiment more and more”.

Matthew Bourne’s production of The Red Shoes is at Lowry, Salford from 25-29 November 2025. Recommended age 7+

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The company’s latest production the Midnight Bell, which premiered in 2021, comes to Salford for the first time as part of a UK tour. And while it might not have such an immediately well-known story, this show has all the emotion, spectacle and top quality dance fans of Bourne have come to expect.

The title is taken from one of Patrick Hamilton’s early novels, but this is not a straightforward adaptation. Instead, Bourne has taken inspiration from Hamilton’s wider body of work to create a piece that captures the essence of the 1930’s London captured in his writing.

In this respect, it doesn’t matter if you are familiar with Hamiliton’s work or not, because rather than retell one story Bourne chooses characters and scenarios from several novels and weaves them together with characters and scenarios of his own creation, into a series of vignettes linked by the Midnight Bell pub. Through these snapshots we are drawn into the relationships and dreams of the pub’s regulars and employees.

Credit here goes to the whole team, choreographer, designers and cast for an utterly absorbing experience that draws us into this world of 1930s Soho and Fitzrovia with its array of distinctly complex characters and relationships. Although there is no linear narrative the storytelling is captivating through its atmospheric evocation and detailed characterisations. Lez Brotherston’s sets fill the breadth and depth of the Lowry’s huge Lyric stage, switching scenes with a seamless filmic quality. Terry Davies musical score adds to the feel of silent movie nostaligia, including some songs from the 1930s, which the dancers mime to.

Here the cast are described as actor/dancers, and rightly so – this piece works because we both recognise and believe the situations being played out. The wide age range of characters allows scope for both the company’s most experienced dancers like Dominic North to perform alongside rising stars like Hannah Kremer – a real treat for audiences who have followed the company for years.

The themes of loneliness and search for connection that grew out of the Covid pandemic from which the production emerged still weigh heavy. But Dominic North tops and tails the evening with such lightness he provides the beer goggles to the bleakness of the romantic characterisations. And as the audience we have the best people watching seat in the bar, where it seems the search for love and connection in the 1930s was no less elusive than today, and certainly no less fascinating.

Matthew Bourne’s the Midnight Bell is at Lowry, Salford from 1-5 July 2025. Age guidance 14+

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In this dance version, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventure’s company takes the 1990 Tim Burton film and distils the true-heart of its story on stage, complete with quirky characters, comedy, romance, and magic.

In many ways the stage adaptation feels cinematic, in its widescreen filling of the Lyric’s huge stage with energy and action. At times there is so much going on, it’s hard to know where to look. Les Brotherton’s enormous and detailed sets draw us into the candy-coloured world of Hope Springs. We move from gothic castle to suburban town, teenage bedroom to poolside country club in moves so slick they feel as natural as a scene change on screen. Terry Davies original composition adapted from Danny Elfman’s romantic film score also feels very much like a soundtrack that guides our emotions on this rollercoaster of a journey.

There is no shortage of theatrical special effects too, which only adds to the awe and wonder of how a dancer, here Liam Mower, can move so deftly with a series of foot-long blades on the ends of his fingers.

Edward Scissorhand’s creation is a Pinocchio-type tale. After losing his son, an old man starts to build Edward; but before he can finish his creation, youths in Halloween masks ransack the ghostly house leaving the old man dead and young Edward left with scissors for hands.

Sounds dark and like all good fairy tales, in places it is. But it is the contrast between appearance and reality, uniqueness and uniformity, the bullishness of the teenage gangs and Edward’s vulnerable innocence that make for such an emotional journey that needs no words to explain.

Mower is dazzling as Scissorhands, bringing a tender depth and wit to the part that brings full dimension to his character, and he is excellently supported in the precision of movement and character of each one of the cast.

It’s been 9 years since the show’s last major revival in 2014 and long-standing New Adventures’ fans will recognise a previous Scissorhands, Dominic North in the role of Bill Boggs; while Kerry Biggin, who created the role of Kim Boggs in the original 2005 version, now dances mum Peg Boggs.

It’s easy to see why both company and cast have returned to it. Edward Scissorhands is a timeless story of how society often treats those it perceives as different, and this beautiful staging is a delight from start to finish.

Edward Scissorhands – Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures is at The Lowry from 28 November to 2 December 2023 before continuing on tour.

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The production opens with the drop of a blood-red curtain to reveal two, young, lifeless bodies on a mortuary slab. Everyone knows this is where the tragedy is taking us, but after a brief reminder, we’re swept back in time to ride the emotions that drove this sorry end.

Here Verona has become The Verona Institute, which sounds much more inviting than it is. Lez Brotherston’s usually elaborate set and costume designs are stripped back to an austere starkness. The white, tiled setting is a cross between a thankfully long-gone asylum and a human lab experiment. Here young people, dressed in head-to-toe white to match the soulless decor, live as in-mates where they are separated by gender, confined by metal fencing, and policed by abusive guards.

Terry Davies has created a new, pared down arrangement of Prokofiev’s score, introducing Dance of the Knights (made popular as the theme tune to TV show The Apprentice) almost immediately, with the rousing march inspiring robotic choreography reflecting how the young people are being kept under control. Their only freedom seems to be in expressing their demons during what look like group therapy sessions.

Aside from the comfort of each other, Friar Laurence (here Rev Bernadette Laurence) and her disco, glitter ball, provides the only hope for these lost souls. And it is under this spinning globe of sparkling light that Juliet first catches sight and then locks lips with new boy, Romeo. And what a kiss it is! Bourne’s choreography capturing the intensity of young love with the two young dancers spinning and rolling in a mammoth, energetic embrace.

Paris Fitzpatrick and Cordelia Braithwaite are at once both vulnerable and strong as Romeo and Juliet. Their dance moves are executed with precision and acted with passion that grabs you by the gut and sweeps you along in their romance.

There is a nod to West Side Story and Grease in elements of the choreography. But while referencing the success of what’s gone before, Bourne’s unique stamp is still evidently clear.

Nine of the dancers are making their professional debuts with New Adventures through this production and young creatives have worked alongside the regular team on all aspects of the show. The result is a rawness that feels very much a Romeo and Juliet for today, touching on many issues at the heart of young people’s concerns – mental health, sexual and physical abuse, homophobia, generational divisions, and knife crime in a frank and bold way. If teenage love could be captured in a dance, this is it.

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet is at The Lowry, Salford from 11-15 July 2023. Age guidance 14+

Read our interview with Sir Matthew Bourne.

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This is Tchaikovsky’s classical ballet, but not as you know it. And for New Adventures’ fans used to Bourne’s exciting mix of classical and contemporary dance styles, this production, newly-designed and refreshed for its anniversary year, has a few surprises too.

Unlike most Nutcracker productions, which open with a luxurious Christmas scene, Bourne’s version raises the curtain on an oppressive Dickensian orphanage run by the hideous Dr and Mrs Dross and their children, Fritz and Sugar.

One of its young residents, Clara has a nutcracker toy, which she treasures. When it is broken, by the Dross’ children, she is heartbroken. Her friends try to piece it back together. But snapping the toy has unleashed an unstoppable force that sets off a chain of events propelling Clara and her friends out of their dark monochrome world of the orphanage to a place of their dreams.

Like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, Clara meets familiar faces in different guises along her journey across the Frozen Lake to the technicolour whirl of Sweetieland.

Throughout, Anthony Ward’s oversized designs draw us in to this strange fantasy world, in an almost cartoon, graphic novel type way. By the time we get to Sweetieland his costumes reach pantomime dame garishness, each one bolder and more extravagant than the next. Add to this the sharp wit of Bourne’s choreography and you get an exploding kaleidoscope of cheeky fun that feels like a big kid running wild in a sweet shop, with all the knowing of an adult and the joyous abandon of a child. You’ll never hear Waltz of the Flowers in the same way again.

Of course, as always, the dancers are technically brilliant. But a special mention must go to Dominic North, who brings a unique spark and terrific comic timing to both spoiled Fritz and gluttonous Prince Bon Bon. Harrison Dowzell is the perfect dream prince as Nutcracker and Cordelia Braithwaite wins our hearts as the heroine, Clara.

In all, the show is a delicious mix of styles. It’s saucy, funny, sinister, joyous and romantic all in two crazy hours. And after the year we’ve had it’s a sweet treat not to be missed.

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! is at The Lowry, Salford from 23 November to 4 December 2021.

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So says, Sir Matthew Bourne in his impressively well-attended post-show chat. Judging by the turnout for this Tuesday evening performance of his adaptation of Powell and Pressberger’s 1948 film, he’s doing rather well in that respect.

Bourne has choreographed to music largely composed by Bernard Herrmann, cleverly lifting and adapting from the scores of classic movies such as Fahrenheit 451, The Ghost and Mrs Muir, even Citizen Kane. Original compositions by Terry Davies have been deftly interwoven with these, to create an atmosphere of period romance and cinemascope high drama.

The great ballet impressario, Boris Lermontov, is relaxing at a rather swish after-show party. Two young and aspiring artists – one a composer, Julian Craster, the other a dancer, Victoria Page – are desperate to impress him. Despite the competitive friction between the two young people, each desperate to steal the other’s thunder, Lermontov offers both a chance.

Having successfully auditioned for the corps de ballet, Victoria continues to catch Lermontov’s eye and, when prima ballerina, Irina Boronskaya, twists her ankle, it is the new girl who is offered the chance to step into the limelight. She does not, however, step into La Boronskaya’s shoes, instead being presented with a pair of red dancing slippers – the fateful red shoes of the title.

The new ballet in which Victoria debuts, is called “The Red Shoes” (the show within a show aspect). It is presented against a striking, animated monochrome backdrop – beautiful, if occasionally dizzying, work by projection designer, Duncan McLean.

As their careers take flight, so does the bond between Julian and Victoria, their early disputes being replaced by mutual attraction and love. When Lermontov catches them in a passionate embrace after the curtain falls, he is consumed with jealousy.

Banished by Lermontov, Julian and Victoria find themselves eeking out a living by working in music hall – he plays the piano, while she is reduced to being a balletic prop in a strong men act. (Fans of music hall ventriloquists, and sand dancing duo, Wilson and Kepple will be delighted – sadly, no sign of Betty, as yet.)

In a split stage, we move from the tormented Lermontov – tortured by the absence of his young prima ballerina – to the disintegrating relationship of Victoria and Julian. These two episodes show Bourne at his finest: the choreographic narrative is clear without being overly explanatory, allowing his excellent dancers to exemplify his claim that they are ‘strong actors as well as performers’.

Deserting her lover, Victoria returns to Lermontov, donning once more the fatally seductive red shoes. It all ends tragically (if perhaps a little too abruptly). Hans Christian Andersen eat your heart out.

If the first half of this show is three star fare (lively and interesting, but never quite captivating), the second act is undeniably five star. Lez Brotherston’s set features a remarkable rotating proscenium arch, which skates around and among the dancers, providing a memorable contribution to the choreography.

Ashley Shaw reprises to the role of Victoria, persuasively carrying us through her changing moods – winningly ambitious ingenue, triumphant artiste, passionate and heartbroken lover, hopeless and fatally obsessive dancer.

Michela Meazza is imperious as the temperamental Irina, by turn funny, furious and fabulous.

Adam Cooper’s return to the company as Lermontov is on its own, to coin a phrase, worth the ticket price. His brief solo, clad in a scarlet smoking jacket, pounds with emotion without sacrificing his razor sharp technique. Truly marvellous.

Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes is at The Lowry, Salford Quays from 26-30 November 2019.

Read our interview with Matthew Bourne about The Red Shoes.

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Inside the Verona Institute, a curved white-tiled wall, with separate entrances for ‘Boys’ and ‘Girls’. Hugging the set – which is on two levels – the chain-linked fencing, barbed wire and barred steel gates of the forbidding location. Is it a secure hospital? A detention centre for young offenders? Some kind of psychiatric clinic for troubled teens? Is it, perhaps some kind of experiment in social control (as Bourne himself speculates in his post-show talk)?

The young inmates are controlled by a combination of exercise, group therapy and prescribed medication. They are also controlled by some scary guards. One of these, Tybalt (Dan Wright), is a corrupt and bullying abuser. Stepping in to try to protect one of the other girls, young Juliet (Cordelia Braithwaite) herself becomes the victim. A brutal, though thankfully not explicit, pas de deux leaves us in little doubt of the price she has to pay.

A new arrival, Romeo (Paris Fitzpatrick), the twitching, naive son of Senator Montague and his wife, is briefly tormented by some of the other boys, who strip him of his own clothes before dressing him in the white of the institute’s inmates. Were he in any doubt, his parents’ chilly farewells tell him he’s here to stay.

Verona Institute’s chaplain, the Reverend Bernadette Laurence (Daisy May Kemp) puts on a polite dance event for the boys and girls (think West Side Story). Needless to say, when the reverend leaves the hall, the fun really starts. With raunchy grappling going on all around them, Romeo’s eyes meet Juliet’s. Love at first sight.

An angry, jealous Tybalt breaks up the party, his rage only kept in check by the return of Rev. Laurence.

Then follows the most beautiful section of the piece, as the two lovers, finally alone, cavort up, down and across the set, somehow managing to maintain lip contact through a variety of contortions, twists and turns. There is a wonderful sense of the delight of discovery in the choreography; a dizzying, rushing passion and surprise at new found happiness. It’s difficult to watch without smiling.

Back in their separate dorms, Romeo and Juliet are teased without mercy. Nevertheless, their friends soon lead them out into a gentle ‘marriage’ ceremony.  Of course, the serenity can’t last. A drunken Tybalt intervenes – mad with jealousy and seeming heartbreak. This time, the consequences are fatal, for himself and young Mercutio (whose boyfriend, Balthasar, is inconsolable).

The Institute’s response to this mayhem is to up the meds and, post-interval, Prokoviev’s music (cleverly adapted by Terry Davies, and here played live by a 15-strong orchestra) slows for a danse macabre (imagine ‘Thriller’ on heavy tranquilisers).

The straitjacketed Romeo and his Juliet find their way back to each other (with a little help from Rev. Laurence) but the ghost of Tybalt and cold body of Mercutio come between them and happiness. It all ends rather gorily.

Although the storytelling can get a little fussy and muddled (Does Tybalt really need some kind of brain tumour to be evil? Is Juliet in a co-dependent relationship with her abuser?) there is, as always, much to enjoy and admire in Bourne’s re-imaginings.

The two young principals are heart-winners. That first kiss pas de deux is something to treasure.

The thinking behind the project – to involve young artists throughout the project – is admirable and effective. Tonight’s show features six young dancers from Salford, and young associate artists are involved in every aspect of the production.

There is a slight risk of bathos in the finale, but that, it could be argued, is Will’s fault, not Matthew’s.

If you’re a fan of Matthew Bourne, you’ll love it.

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet is at The Lowry, Salford Quays from 2019.

Read our interview with Matthew Bourne about making Romeo and Juliet.

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He talks to Quays Life about his dance interpretation of Shakespeare’s timeless romantic tragedy.

Shakespeare’s classic tale of star cross’d lovers has inspired the creative community for generations. The tragic and passionate love story set against the conflict of two divided families has spawned countless plays, musicals, operas and songs.

For choreographer Matthew Bourne his interpretation in dance was inspired as much by who he would work with on the ballet as the original narrative. “I avoided doing it for years as I think it was something everyone expected me to do and it had been done in so many different ways in so many different mediums,” he explains. “I thought it would be hard to find a new way into it which is something I always search for.

“The thing that really made me want to do it was the opportunity to work with young people. It is a story about them and young love. I got even more excited when it was suggested we cast it with young people and work with young creative associates in all the different departments of the show alongside my usual world-class team. It is all about nurturing them and telling the story.”

The strong themes that run through Shakespeare’s famous plot make it a natural fit for choreographic expression. “Dance is very good at extreme emotions, and Romeo and Juliet as a story is certainly full of those,” says Matthew. “It has passion, love against the odds, and several extremes of murder and violence. It is all those big emotions. Shakespeare captured it very well. Young people are very hot-headed and react very quickly to things.

“One thing I have tried to bring out is that when young people first fall in love and feel that passion, they really go overboard in many ways. I often think about how classical ballet handles this and how the young girl gets very excited by a kiss on the cheek. Young people today, if they are into each other, are kissing until their mouths are sore. I have tried to capture that intensity.

“It is also set a little way into the future, but it is not futuristic. It is a time when society is frowning on young people having an excess of feeling and emotion which sends them off on the wrong tracks as far as society is concerned. I got the idea from Arthur Laurents, the co-creator of West Side Story, who was asked why the young people in it are violent and act the way they do? He said they have too much feeling and they need to find a way to release it. I thought that was an interesting way into the story and very true. It made me go in the direction I went in.”

One of the UK’s best-known directors and choreographers, Matthew has been creating dance for over 30 years for musicals, theatre and film as well as his own New Adventures company which boasts a list of hugely successful productions including the iconic Swan Lake, Edward Scissorhands, Red Shoes and Play Without Words.

For Romeo and Juliet, Matthew has once again gathered his trusted creative team around him including associate artistic director, Etta Murfitt, set and costume designer, Lez Brotherston and lighting designer, Paule Constable to add their skill, knowledge and talent to the production to both cushion and push him as he brings his interpretation of the Bard’s work to life. Matthew says: “They know me well enough to question me on what we are doing, whether it works, and they will suggest things too. Sometimes a new creative team are a bit nervous about coming forward with their suggestions when they are working with someone like me who has been in the business for a long time. It is nice to work with a team who don’t have a problem with that.”

Part of the team is the composer, Terry Davies, another long-term collaborator of Matthew’s who had the job of adapting Prokofiev’s music for this production. “We nervously went to the Prokofiev Estate and asked them if we could do a new arrangement,” says Matthew. “While it is wonderful and big and lush for big opera-house productions and suits that style of production, I wanted something a bit more earthy and a bit more quirky. It would be very faithful to it and it is only 15 musicians who multi-task and play lots of different instruments. It is quite rare for us to take an orchestra out on tour with us. It is sounding wonderful and I hope the Prokofiev Estate are happy. It is a very recognisable score and that is really the script that we work with.”

Featuring and engaging with young people is as key to this production as the warring Montagues and Capulets. At each venue, six fast-emerging dancers (three male and three female) will perform on stage alongside the professional company. After a series of auditions around the country, this highly-talented half-dozen were chosen to be part of a world premiere tour surrounded by the professional company. “They are an integral part of the show. They are not token appearances. They’re part of the main company,” he said.

In addition, a team of young associates have been appointed to work within each creative arm of the project including lighting, sound, orchestration and costume. It is happening with the choreography too, with Matthew being joined by Arielle Smith. “She is wonderful. Not     only is she a great up and coming talent but I get on with her very well.  We have a laugh. With such an enormous age difference between us of around 30 years, she is like a mate and she is incredibly mature for her years in terms of the way she has handled the whole process and there is a lot of her and her work in it. She is not standing by my side watching me work. She is taking rehearsals, creating movement for the show and she has been great. I hear from the other creatives that they are enjoying working with their associates as well. We have all been getting together and thriving with this opportunity,” he said.

It is a similar model to the Lord of the Flies tour where Matthew and his team gave the opportunity for young men who were interested in dance to be part of the professional production alongside his New Adventures company of professional performers which has generated its own success stories. Three of the young Lord of the Flies were cast for Romeo and Juliet, while others are part of his Swan Lake 2019 company. “They have gone through several programmes that we have to nurture young British-trained dancers. We are very proud of those young guys and we hope that this time we will bring some women into the fray that we have nurtured so there will be even more people who started in Lord of the Flies or Romeo and Juliet that will hopefully come back into the company,” said Matthew.

And with four major productions this year plus a Special Award at the Olivier’s for services to dance, 2019 is proving to be quite a year for Matthew. “It has been amazing,” he says. “Swan Lake coming back is always a thrill because it does introduce so many more people to dance and to our company. It always has an incredible effect on audiences around the country and our casts are so devoted to it.

“In the middle of all that, getting the Olivier Special Award right in the middle of creating a new show was rather good because the award can feel a bit like it is the end of your career and people are saying ‘Thank you, Please Stop.’ It felt great to be in the middle of a new creation like Romeo and Juliet. It was about the past and about the future at the same time.”

And for Matthew and all his team, their passion and excitement for Romeo and Juliet is every bit as strong as that which binds Shakespeare’s young characters at the heart of this explosive production. He adds: “What started out as being quite a scary project involving so much untested talent and young people that I didn’t know very well has ended up being rather an exciting new show.”

For full tour details visit new-adventures.net

Read our review of Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet at The Lowry.

Matthew Bourne talks about his iconic interpretation of Swan Lake.

The post Matthew Bourne shares the passion behind his explosive new Romeo and Juliet appeared first on Quays Life.

That audiences are keen to see Swan Lake is not surprising, Tchaikovsky’s classic has been enchanting ballet fans for almost 140 years. However, Matthew Bourne’s imaginative interpretation is Swan Lake, but not as you know it. If you imagine there are two ways to view swans. One as delicate creatures, gliding gracefully across a lake; the other as wild, powerful birds with the strength to break your arm if they wanted to – Matthew Bourne’s sees them as the latter.

Here the traditional corps de ballet is replaced by a male bevy of swans – bare-chested dancers whose muscles are visible expressions of their strength. Like swans, they hiss and flap – sometimes playfully, but always wild. And although this scene is no longer the surprise it was to early audiences when it premiered in 1995, it is still a striking and enduring image.

Choreographer, Sir Matthew Bourne and designer, Lez Brotherston have re-worked this production for the 21st century. It feels fresh and energised, but it also very-much the same impactful production, that has become a classic in its own right.

In this fairy-tale land all the surroundings are exaggerated and over-sized, while the costumes and movements are pinch-perfect tight. Dominic North’s precision and poise make him the perfect Prince. Regular New Adventures audiences will recognise him as he has been with the company for 14-years and danced many of its leading roles, bringing a strong acting quality to his dance that pulls us further into his inner-struggle.

Dancing opposite him, Will Bozier makes a towering and impressive swan. And he positively sizzles in his leather pants as the stranger (manipulative black swan), seducing every woman in sight, and the Prince, at the Royal Ball.

Alongside this electric passion and high drama, there is also humour in this royal household. A wheeled corgi delights, there’s a cheeky real-life David-esq statue, lively dancing in Swank bar, and a brilliant comic scene with the Queen (Katrina Lyndon) and Prince’s socialite girlfriend (Carrie Willis) in the royal box, challenging royal protocol and the audience’s snobbery. Young princes falling out of clubs worse for wear and being caught by the paparazzi doesn’t have the same relevance now our young Princes have grown, but it still makes for fun viewing.

It’s all atmospherically lit by lighting designer, Paule Constable, who makes good use of projection for the swans in flight and makes Lez Brotherston’s expansive lake shimmer under a full moon.

After 23 years the vibrancy of this once revolutionary production is as mesmerising as ever.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is at The Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays from 20 November to 1 December 2018. Visit website for full tour details.

Read our interview with Matthew Bourne about re-staging his iconic Swan Lake.

The post Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake from New Adventures at The Lowry, Salford Quays, Dance Review appeared first on Quays Life.