Dance

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Mary Brennan

*****

BEFORE 1995, only little girls could dream of being dancing swans, on pointe in tutus and feathery head-dresses, fulfilling Tchaikovsky’s music. That changed, dramatically, with Matthew Bourne’s contemporary re-imagining of the 19th century classic ballet. His swans were all male: clad only in striking white britches – designer Lez Brotherston’s overlay of gauzy filaments moved more evocatively than any stiff-skirted tutu – they had a physicality that spoke of feral stamina and graceful muscularity on the wing. After 1995, young boys could dream of being dancing swans and indeed the current New Adventures company includes lads who weren’t even born when the work premiered.

There are some little tweaks in the detailing of this 2018 revival, but Bourne’s Swan Lake is intrinsically unaltered, as visually (and emotively) compelling as ever. The cheeky jokes that wink at Royal protocols and high society’s pecking order ensure that we are gleefully amused, but what really comes to the fore with this new young cast is the tragic heartache of a lonely, misfit Prince (Dominic North) who finds the love he craves in the charismatic form of The Swan (Will Bozier).

Beyond the undoubted erotic charge that underpins their encounters, there is also a playful, tender side that North and Bozier acknowledge in shared glances, matching body language and the implicit trust that soars with moments of close contact, and high-flying lifts.

If Bozier’s Swan has a free-spirited charm, his appearance as the leather-trousered Stranger at a palace party turns up the volume on sexy, magnetic swagger: the ensemble dances reach fever-pitch, even the Queen (Nicole Kabera) succumbs to rogue desires with tragic results.

When the male Swans, who were so surprising and magical at first sight, turn aggressive at the end, it seems as if not even an unlikely love can survive. Hold back your tears - the closing image will make your heart dance with grateful hope.