Alan Ilagan

Like most kids, my introduction to the ballet was via The Nutcracker, and while most critics agree it’s one of Tchaikovsky’s lesser works, the magic stayed with me – as did a love of Tchaikovsky. This Friday, Andy and I are finally seeing the composer’s Swan Lake, in Matthew Bourne’s all-male version – a production I’ve wanted to see since it first opened over a decade ago, but missed out for one reason or another.

Crass comments about shirtless male dancers and pronounced bulges aside, the ballet – much like opera – has never moved me very much. I can appreciate the dancers and the imagery and the music, but something has always rung hollow about it. Perhaps this is the one that will change that for me. If anyone has the power to enthrall, it’s Matthew Bourne.

The look of that original production was an influence on 2005’s Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale, so I’m posting a few images and quotes from that Tour Book (one day I may get around to posting it in The Projects section, but that day’s far in the future). As so often happens, what was at first glance a superficial homage to a ballet quickly became much more, in the way that the universe calls us to awareness, even when we don’t want to listen. (The serious stuff appears in the next post…)