Bourne's Swan Lake

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake is the opening performance for this year da:ns festival (dance festival).

It is ending today. For those who miss it, it is a great pity as the performance is superly entertaining. This is the first time it is in S'pore though it was first staged in London in 1995.

Bourne's Swan Lake uses altered Tchaikovsky's score and the swans are all male dancers. Their appearance and dance movement are riveting. Its story line bears little resemblance to the traditional Swan Lake ballet, with totally different characters and dances.  Though basically still ballet in nature, it is humorously entertaining with injection of disco and jazz blended in so well.

This is one show that I will definitely watch again and again whenever it returns to S'pore.

When I saw the last scene in movie Billy Elliot, I was curious as to how come the Swan Lake ballet has male swans. I have not heard of Matthew Bourne then. I was so impressed by the last scene which showed the male 'swan' doing a beautifully executed leap into the air.

Here is the link to the clip :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5BSyJ_vlHo