Review: Swan Lake, Bristol Hippodrome – ‘Bourne’s swans soar once more’

Here is a whimsical list of iconic things:

• Super Saturday at the 2012 London Olympics
• That Christmas ad with the Coca-Cola trucks
• The legend slot at Glasto
• Christopher Nolan’s brain
• Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

This once-subversive spectacle has become the most successful dance theatre production of all time. It hasn’t just earned its place in the canon — it’s taken flight in daring fashion, dazzling audiences from Broadway to Australia and raking in a host of awards along the way.

So yeah, it fits nicely into the ‘iconic’ category of modern showbusiness. And time is its ally, because this 30th Anniversary tour showcases every grain of its grandeur.

From stifled civic scenes to explosive tantrums, Leonardo McCorkindale captures the Prince’s insatiable need to be loved. Across from him, the Queen (Katrina Lyndon, with heaps of gravitas) is domineering and cold in equal measure. There are more than a few Freudian undertones in that narrative arc. And even The Girlfriend (a cracking comic turn by Bryony Wood) can’t usher the Prince from his pretty passive position.

A-ha! Then come the Swans. The all-male corps de ballet chart the Prince’s journey from repression to expression and back again. Billed as ‘The Next Generation’, much of the lithe, sprightly cast is drawn from the Bourne-founded New Adventures theatre company.

They’re younger than the show, but pay sublime service to its enduring direction. With crouching frames and angled arms, every flurry of athleticism is an elegant, electric assault on the senses. The Cygnets add sass and bounce, and it’s all buoyed by Lez Brotherston’s stunning costume and set design.

Harrison Dowzell is an astounding presence, capturing both the Swan’s benevolence and the Stranger’s lustful betrayal with serious aplomb. In the Royal Ball scene especially, his enigmatic energy is there for all to see.

Word to Tchaikovsky, of course. His romantic, rousing score was added to the list of iconic things loooong ago. There’s no live orchestra during this tour stint, but you don’t feel the lack of it. Every phrase of music is as punchy as the movement it inspires.

The drama in the seedy club hinges on contemporary dance twists, and the Royal Ball has those remarkable, all-in emotions of lust, anger, and jealousy bubbling to the fore in tango-infused sequences. One show-stopping number sees the female and male ensembles take turns in the fiery limelight.

The only potential downside to this extravaganza is just that — there’s so much going on. Wherever you look — front, rear, side to side — you’ll catch as many intricate moments as you’ll miss.

As the Swans prance, fly, swoop and surround him, The Prince ultimately unravels amid a tribal, stirring close. I heard at least four different interpretations as the curtain dropped. However you see it — the deep themes of fantasy, romance, liberation, psychosis, and tragedy all shine through in the captivating choreography.

Perhaps it’s this precise blend of narrative ambiguity and staggering artistry that makes Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake such an enduring masterpiece.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is at Bristol Hippodrome on March 4-8 at 7.30pm, with additional 2.30pm matinee shows on Thursday and Saturday. For ticket availability, visit www.atgtickets.com.

All photos: New Adventures

Read next:

• Review: Edward Scissorhands, Bristol Hippodrome – ‘Haunting, funny, evocative: it’s Matthew Bourne at his enchanting best’
• Review: Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, Bristol Hippodrome – ‘Aimed at fans of the gritty and spectacular’
• Review: The Nutcracker, Bristol Hippodrome – ‘A riotously kitsch fantasy show’