'Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake' review — it's become a classic, but this ballet revolution is as dizzyingly brilliant as ever

Read our review of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, now in performances at Sadler's Wells to 26 January 2025.

There’s nothing wrong with a classic, especially at Christmas. And that is exactly what Matthew Bourne’s once-revolutionary Swan Lake has become. When it first graced theatres 30 years ago, it was met with turned-up noses. 'How could Swan Lake be messed with?' people wondered. Was there anything that really could be changed?

Well, the answer was yes. And now, Bourne’s version has become part of the dance world’s furniture. It has toured all over the world, to Broadway and beyond. It has changed the face of ballet and inspired a whole new cohort of young talent. But has it dated at all over its years of success? Far from it.

Back at Sadler's Wells in a remounted production named “the next generation”, Bourne’s choreography is as fine and dizzyingly brilliant as ever. The story veers away from the Tchaikovsky classic, which got its inspiration from Russian and German folk tales and had hoards of glistening ballerinas in tutus, by replacing the archetypal Princess for a tormented Prince. He eventually falls madly and obsessively in love with a male swan and the course of his life changes forever.

Back in 1995 these changes would have felt more radical than they do today. But Bourne’s version still has an anarchical core. The swans are not the soft, angelic things from the original. They're angry, spiky creatures that could snap at any wrong step. When they appear en masse, they look dangerous and violent. Their choreography stings with power.

Bourne created his Swan Lake at the peak of the royal family scandal. The young prince would have seemed alike to the then Prince Charles. His mother, the Queen, is royally icy, his girlfriend, like Diana, pushed the boundaries of how to appropriately behave in public.

The comparisons are less relevant now, but it doesn’t mean Bourne’s neat and cleverly thought-out choreography is any less accomplished. As the Swan, Harrison Dowzell performs with muscular, commanding force. Stephen Murray’s Prince is a nervous, slightly awkward presence. In their scenes together, it seems as if the Prince is awakening.

The chorus moments, too, are packed full of character. The courtiers are angular and sharp. The bar scenes have a sexual, dark energy woven into their seams. Bourne’s movement favours dramatisation over beauty, but it remains a glorious, fun-filled sight to behold.

Memories of Swan Lakes of before creep into Bourne’s production. The dancers’ shadows create scenes of their own on the white, stark walls. The image of the swan is projected, large, behind the Prince’s bed. The whole production feels like a whirlwind fantasy, almost as if it has been conjured from the Prince’s mind.

While many of Bourne’s audiences now will know what to expect from his creation, it is still wonderful. Thirty years on, it is firmly a ballet great – but for a reason.

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake is at Sadler's Wells to 26 January 2025. Book Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake (Photos by Johan Persson)