Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sheffield Lyceum: Audacious reinvention still fresh and wild on 30th anniversary
Matthew Bourne’s audacious reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece is now almost 30 years old. But that was difficult to believe when it arrived at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre with the up to date revival including a mobile phone going off at the wrong moment and a sly take on celebrity, writes Mavis Kirkham.
All the energy we associate with Mathew Bourne’s work was there and felt as fresh, wild and new as ever. We all know the music, it permeates our culture, and combined with the raw energy of the dance the fusion of the classical and the wildly modern was stunning.
This ballet is famous for replacing the traditionally female swans with an athletic, feral and fierce all male flock. The swans are amazing but there is so much more to this ballet. The sheer inventiveness of the choreography was stunning from the sexy human exchanges to the sheer swanness of the swans’ movements. The skill of the dancers was breath-taking as their movements conveyed every emotion from despair to joy in flight. No wonder it caused a sensation when it premiered and has since become the most successful dance theatre production of all time.
As well as being technically superb, this ballet was funny: from the royal bed which turned into the royal balcony to the mechanical royal corgi and the great opera scene where traditional ballet was mocked and everyone in the audience must have thought for a split second that the offending ringtone was theirs. There was much humour in the movements of the dancers: moments which we could all identify and laugh.
The Lyceum was packed. The audience were wildly appreciative and gave the dancers a well-earned standing ovation. We all loved it.