Sir Matthew Bourne is widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer and director.

Since 1986, he has been creating and directing dance for musicals, theater, and film as well as his own highly successful, award-winning companies.

He is the creator of the world’s longest-running ballet production, a record-breaking nine-time Olivier Award winner, and the only British director to have won the Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical.

Bourne is renowned for creating work that attracts large audiences, often unfamiliar with the world of dance. He will often put his own spin on a narrative, provoking the audience to think and consider the story in a new light. He also works with dancers from a mixture of contemporary, musical theatre, and ballet training, blending all these genres into something completely unique, but with a constant focus on telling the story through the medium of dance, as opposed to through words or song.

As his legendary stage production of Swan Lake celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new tour, we take a look at some of his most famous productions.

Swan Lake

As Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake tours the country to celebrate its 30th anniversary, it is interesting to note that this audacious reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece ruffled a few feathers when it premiered in 1995 at Sadler’s Wells in London.

Bourne’s production turned tradition on its head, with shimmering ballerinas in white tutus replaced by a menacing male ensemble in feathered breeches. At the center of the piece is a young prince rejected by his mother, lonely, frustrated, and afraid, and ultimately finding love in the form of a swan.

Thrilling, bold, witty, and emotive, it has since become the most successful dance theatre production of all time, collecting over thirty international accolades, including the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production and three Tony Awards for Best Director of a Musical, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.

This version of Swan Lake remains a vital and vibrant work which, like the Swan at its center, entrances and thrills.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Not available in the UK.

Cinderella

Here Bourne shows off his creative genius once again as he sets his interpretation of the classic fairytale Cinderella in the midst of World War II.

This makes more sense than you might suppose – Sergei Prokofiev wrote the original score during World War II and there’s a dark undertone to the music that Bourne picks out skilfully.

The show opens with a loud siren as the curtain rises to reveal the step-family’s soot-covered lounge, with Cinderella, the step-sisters, and her evil step-mother all dressed in 1940s-style outfits in muted shades of grey.

The “Prince Charming” here is a lost and injured RAF pilot who finds his true love against the backdrop of raging fires – in fact, when the clock strikes midnight in the famous scene, the heroine does not just lose her shoe, the whole city goes up in flames. It’s far more Blitz than grand ball.

This thrilling, evocative, and modern love story was first presented in the UK in 1997 and has been revised and tweaked since, playing at Sadler’s Wells for the Christmas season in 2017, before touring nationally in 2018.

Interesting fact: Lez Brotherston’s sumptuous costumes and sets won him an Olivier Award for his original designs.

Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella.

Edward Scissorhands

Matthew Bourne’s magical dance production of Edward Scissorhands has carved a place in the hearts of audiences worldwide since its premiere in 2005. Following sell-out performances in America, Australia, Korea, Japan, and Europe, it had its first major revival in 2014, returning to UK theatres again in 2024.

In a castle high on a hill lives Edward, a mechanical boy created by an eccentric inventor in 1950s America. When his creator dies, he is left alone and unfinished with only scissors for hands until a kindly townswoman invites him to live with her and her suburban family. Whilst this leads to a thriving garden topiary and hairdressing business, it also has its downsides!

Based on the classic Tim Burton movie and featuring the hauntingly beautiful music of Danny Elfman and Terry Davies, Bourne’s production returns to this witty, bittersweet story of an incomplete boy left alone in a strange new world.

Matthew Bourne said in the past: “I’ve always been attracted by ‘outsider’ stories in my work and Edward Scissorhands is the ultimate ‘outsider’ story. Its tale of how we treat people who we perceive as being ‘different’ in our communities has never been more timely.”

Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands (Dance Version) – Not available in the UK.

Nutcracker!

Bourne’s first production of Nutcracker! was for Opera North in 1992 as part of the work’s centenary celebrations.

It has since become one of the most popular ballets in his repertoire and was last seen at Sadler’s Wells in 2021 – the biggest and brightest version to date.

Just like E.T.A Hoffman’s original tale, which inspired the very first ballet version by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in 1892, Nutcracker! is a tale of a young woman with a big heart and a big imagination.

Bourne’s version follows Clara’s bittersweet journey from a bleak Christmas Eve at a children’s orphanage, through a shimmering winter wonderland and the kitsch and colorful magical kingdom of ‘Sweetieland’, as she ventures on a journey to find happiness.

Tchaikovsky’s glorious score, combined with Bourne’s dazzling choreography, creates a fresh, witty, wacky, and whimsical interpretation of the classic.

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! – Not available in the UK.

Sleeping Beauty

Bourne has never been one to turn down the chance to choreograph a Tchaikovsky ballet.

In 2012, he adapted and directed Sleeping Beauty, a wondrous show that became a multi-award-winning production, enchanting audiences across the globe. It then had a reawakening in 2022, celebrating ten years since its premiere at Sadler’s Wells.

The traditional story is transported to a gothic Edwardian era. There is not just one fairy here (the wicked Carabosse) but a whole multitude of them – all black wings, wild hair, scary make-up, and wonderful costumes once again by Lez Brotherston.

With an unforgettable score, sumptuous sets, and costumes, evocative lighting, and masterly storytelling, the beloved fairy tale is turned into a dazzling gothic romance.

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Not available in the UK.

See Bourne’s choreography in action and stream all five of his brilliant ballets anytime on Marquee TV.

Matthew Bourne Titles Featured in This Article:

Swan Lake ( Not available in the UK)
Cinderella
Edward Scissorhands (Dance Version) ( Not available in the UK)
Nutcracker! (Not available in the UK)
Sleeping Beauty (Not available in the UK)