Review: Why Matthew Bourne's male 'Swan Lake' is still radical and relevant, 24 years later

Male swans in “Swan Lake.” That’s all it took in 1995 for director and choreographer Matthew Bourne to create a firestorm of outrage and acclaim in the uptight London dance world. Besides the swans’ sex change, Bourne’s production depicted an all-too-recognizably Windsor prince obsessed with a feral, muscular cob.

He is a ravenously eclectic theater-dance choreographer, sometimes preserving the structure of the beloved Petipa/Ivanov 1895 “Swan Lake” but elsewhere going for broke with galvanic pop dances perfectly matched to Pyotr Ilyich’s vintage rhythms. Unlike generations of ballet masters, Bourne finds a sense of danger in the swan music that often overwhelms its lyricism, setting up the dramatic conflicts that will be resolved in his shattering final scene.

Nicole Kabera as the Queen and Andrew Monaghan as her son in Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” at the Ahmanson.There are, however a few losses: no live orchestra and no child-prince, for starters. And given our culture’s evolved discussions about portrayals of women, you could argue that the treatment of the prince’s mother and girlfriend should be more nuanced and sympathetic.

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