| Matthew Borne makes
no apologies for his unconventional interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s famed Swan Lake
ballet. Using bare-chested men in the roles of the traditionally female-danced swans,
satiric modern day references to Britain’s monarch and a subtle gay undercurrent,
Bourne’s critically praised adaptation takes this timeless classic to a new echelon.
But don’t be mistaken. There’s nothing campy
about Bourne’s vision, which opens October 8 at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York
for a 16-week limited run. The story is rich in subtext and intensity, and is cleverly
updated with a sense of danger and forbidden love as told through the trials and
tribulations of a troubled Prince, who finds solace and obsession in the swan.
"It’s a gorgeous piece of text filled with raw emotions," the 38-year old
British director and choreographer says of his risque and dazzling Swan Lake.
"It’s something you can attach your own story to. It’s sexy, and it mixes
humor with basic entertainment qualities. It has sort of a mystery to it. Even if you are
familiar with the music, with different images and new things brought into it, you
rediscover it."
Through Bourne’s vision, which has been called
audacious and mesmerizing by dance critics, the Prince is both bored and lonely, and
without direction. He is based loosely on Prince Charles and several other monarchs. The
swans appear in the Prince’s dreams, with no tutus, tap shoes or flamboyant
outerwear. Clad in feathered trousers, the robust built men wear subtle accessories to
subtly suggest their chatters. The lead swan beguiles the Prince, and depending on
interpretation reflects the freedom and love he yearns—and easily one could read an
overtone of gay romance between the two, especially in the third act when the relationship
between the two men becomes overtly sexual.
Despite casting well-defined male dancers in the principal
roles of the swans, including the one that the prince falls in love with, both personally
and metaphorically, the famed choreographer is quick to point out that this is not a
"gay Swan Lake."
"It can be read that way without a doubt. It certainly
was going on in my mind when I created it. But it’s complex. The swan represents
freedom—the prince escaping from what he doesn’t have in his life. He sees in
this creature all the things he wants to be," Bourne says.
"It’s very homoerotic. When I originally saw Swan
Lake, to me it was so obvious (the Prince) was gay. But I don’t want the show to be
labeled too much. To call it an all-male Swan Lake is wrong, because there are female
characters, and to call it a gay Swan Lake is a bit limiting," he adds. "If
someone happens to see a gay love story in it that’s great. It means a lot to a gay
audience, but it isn’t necessarily what it is about. It’s interpreted
differently by everyone."
"At the end of the day it would be nice if they
rediscover the music in some way and understood the music better—more on an
intellectual level. I want people to have an experience like no other and give them a
night of theatre they’ve not had before," he says. "Hopefully they’ll
walk away realizing you can tell a story without words and feel something. Ultimately, I
hope people get it in the end."
Swan Lake was a surprise hit in London, where Bourne says a
ballet is luck if it runs for more than two weeks. The ballet ran for more than 21 weeks,
making it the longest running ballet in the history of the West End. His follow-up show,
Cinderella, ran for 16 weeks—the second longest running show there.
Born and raised outside London, Bourne didn’t enter
the world of dance professionally until he was 22, awfully old for a newcomer. At 25, he
earned his degree from the Laban Center in dance/theatre, and three years later helped
found Adventures in Motion Pictures, an innovative dance troupe, which he still runs
today. It produces small-to-medium size work, including Swan Lake. Since its inception,
it’s earned three Olivier nominations (Britain’s equivalent to the Tony.)
Borne, who has been dating one of the dancers from his
company for nearly a year and a half, says being openly gay was never a tough decision for
him, personally or professionally. "In the world I work in, it’s not an issue.
It’s always been very natural for me. I never had any kind of struggle. Like
everyone, it’s always a bit of a problem in the beginning, but I dealt with that
early on," says the choreographer, who came out when he was 18.
While his updated version of "Cinderella," which
may make its way to the U.S. next year, has no gay theme in it, he says his ultimate goal
is to produce a real gay love story.
"I don’t want to do one where the characters end
up with suffering or hating themselves. I want it to be simply a love story," he
says. "I want it to be just simply a love story. I don’t see why not. If done
right, it can work—and work quite well."
Jeffrey L. Newman is a New York based writer and
can be reached at editorjeff@aol.com.
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