Matthew Bourne

• What is New Adventures (Adventures in Motion Pictures) known for?

  - Putting on Christmas/festive productions each year

  - Work (Swan Lake) featured at the end of the 2000 film 'Billy Elliot'

  - Film version of Carman

  - Reinvents well known ballets and operas

  choreographed for West End musicals

  - Narrative driven + comedic

  
• What was Bourne's upbringing like?

  - Always lived in London

  - No formal ballet training

  - Parents were fans of movies and theatre: they took him to see a lot.
• Where does he seek inspiration/influence?

  - The Royal Ballet in the war, touring and doing eight shows a week with the same dancers.

  - Love for theatre

  - TV - "that's where I think the best drama's being done."

  - Attending a lot of ballet; it's what I first loved about dance, even before contemporary

  - The people who have disappeared off the scene. Theatrical influences. - girl the year above him at college
• What are often his themes/starting points to his works?

  - Really simple plots and fairy tales that everyone has a little bit of knowledge of, so you can then play with that knowledge

  - Bringing a truth and a reality to dance
• What's the company's style?

  - Most performers are from either ballet or musical theatre, very few from contemporary.

  - Both of those genres are about giving, the whole style is about performing out all the time. It's the beginning of storytelling,
• How would you describe his style?

  Large, experimental, comedic, technical, characterised, dramatic, exaggerated, narrative, expressive, fun
• Compare to jasmin vardimon.

  - characters present,

  - JVC includes influence from technical styles,

  - far more over the top and exaggerated,

  doesn't have the same intricate gestural work as JVC,

  - influences drawn from works that already exist unlike JVC

  - Lighter and more joyful atmosphere created
• Stylistic features

  - narrative driven

  - gender role exploration

  - theatricality

  - pop culture references

  - humour

  - character development

  - acting through dance

  - pedestrian movement

  - elements of social dance

  - ballet, jazz and contemporary fusion

  - reinventing classical works
• Influences - Frederick Ashton

  - ballet style

  - tells stories through ballet

  - musicality

  - comedy

  - clear characters within gender roles

  - large ensembles
• Influences - Busby Berkeley

  - elaborate musical productions involving geometric patterns

  - unison

  - military-like formations

  - large ensemble

  - formations create an image
• Influences - Lea Anderson

  - characterisation

  - fusion of styles including ballet, tango and contemporary

  - theatricality

  - elaborate set and colour

  - extravagant costumes
• Contributions

  - New Adventures has employed some 900 dancers

  - New Adventures has generated over £12 million to the creative economy.

  - Allows a wider audience to access his shows, 30% of people after watching his show went on to book other shows.

  - In the past 20 years, new adventures has performed to over 3 million people.

  - Inspired young boys to dance through outreach programmes - Re- Bourne (Lord of Flies).
• Key facts

  - Bourne's first 2 act work (similar to ballets)

  - Retained Tchaikovsky's score

  - Took elements of the traditional ballet narrative but modernised it
• Themes

  - Adventures

  - Dreams

  - Growing up
• BBC Interview

  - From a black and white world to a world of colour

  - Takes you on a journey to a 'fantasy' Christmas

  - Not coming from a classically trained background helps as he uses his knowledge of film and theatre to connect to the audience and types of people watching more

  - Company isn't tied to the same traditions unlike classical ballet companies - allows them to play with storylines, characters, set and costumes

  - Dance allowed him to express himself when he was younger
• Marshmallow girls vs The Chinese Dance - Movement

  Marshmallow Girls: More comedic and fun movement, theatrical Chinese Dance: More technical movement, very linear and advanced

  
• Marshmallow girls vs The Chinese Dance - Characters

  Marshmallow Girls: Based off of sweets Chinese Dance: Based off of countries

  
• Marshmallow girls vs The Chinese Dance - Lighting

  Marshmallow Girls: Correlate with the background and lighting, very pink Chinese Dance: Contrast the lighting, red costumes and green lighting
• Marshmallow girls vs The Chinese Dance - Props

  Marshmallow Girls: Use pieces of paper (invitations)Chinese Dance: Use umbrellas
• Marshmallow girls vs The Chinese Dance - Music

  Both: Use music by Tchaikovsky
• Marshmallow girls vs The Chinese Dance - Costume Design

  Marshmallow Girls: Dancers wear identical costumesChinese Dance: Dancers wear identical costumesMarshmallow Girls: Wear character shoesChinese Dance: Wear pointe shoes
• Marshmallow girls vs The Chinese Dance - Set Design

  Marshmallow Girls: Very intricate, bold, colorful, and dreamlikeChinese Dance: Looks more luxurious and lavish
• Gobstoppers vs The Russian Dance - Similarities

  - Both Gobstoppers and Russian Dance have influences from classical ballet.- Both use music composed by Tchaikovsky.- Both require a high level of athleticism.- Both have a trio aspect in the performance.- Both incorporate balletic movements .
• Marshmallow Girls

  There are 5 female dancers on stage representing marshmallows. In this dance, they receive invitations to the party in Sweetieland and are trying to find their way in. Clara uses this as a distraction to Bah Humbug to try and get into Sweetieland but he catches her and she doesn't get in. The dancers act unintelligent and portray the 'ditsy blonde stereotype. This fits with marshmallows as they are airy sweets without much structure.
• Marshmallow Girls

  They carry out lots of bourrees, which adds to the chaos and confusion in the scene. The dancers wear pink high-neck leotards with pink tutus. Their leotards have pom-poms attached and they also wear short pink fluffy wigs. They also wear large pearl necklaces. The aural setting is very fast paced which compliments the movement as they're directly correlated, enhancing the performance. The the set includes a large, colourful mouth which is the entrance to Sweetieland
• Gobstoppers vs The Russian Dance - Differences

  Gobstoppers has a more comedic tone, while Russian Dance is more formal and traditional.- Gobstoppers has more fun and theatrical movements, while Russian Dance has more technical movements.- In Gobstoppers, characters are based on sweets, while in Russian Dance, characters are based on countries.
• Gobstoppers vs The Russian Dance - Differences

  Gobstoppers has different coloured costumes, while Russian Dance has identical costumes.- Gobstoppers has intricate, bold, colourful, and dreamlike set design, while Russian Dance has a more luxurious and lavish set design.
• Gobstoppers

  The three dancers represent gobstoppers who are trying to distract Bah Humbug and allow Clara to sneak into Sweetieland for the party.

  • The Gobstoppers appear rough and tough on the outside and soft on the inside.
  • This is clear as they're very immature and playful but try to appear strong by fighting.
  • Bah Humbug is a clear representation of the mints as they are hard sweets and
  • Bah Humbug appears a rigid, stiff character.
• Gobstoppers

  • Perform punching actions as well as the dancers acting as though they are knocking their heads together.
  • The costumes are very bold and colourful as well as clearly characterised. This highlights the intention of telling a story through the dance and being very clear on narrative throughout.
  • The aural setting is very fast paced and loud, reflecting the chaos of the scene.
  • The set design is very elaborate, bold and colourful. It is quite psychedelic and can remind us of a dream-like state, enhancing the theme of dreams.