The Eroticism of Dance: Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’
Rants, Raves and Reviews — By Adele on 16 January, 2007 8:38 pm
If, like me, you feel that sexuality and theatre belong together, and you are looking for a performance that would grip your nerves into its fists and gives them a good tug, there’s nothing you could see on the stage right now that would be sexier, edgier, more twisted than Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake”.
It helps if you are able to appreciate the power and beauty of male dancers – though the story of the hero’s sexual and romantic hunger will have an impact, whether the object of your lust is the icy Queen, the muscular, barefoot Swan, or the leather-clad Stranger with his riding crop and come-hither glare.
The trip to the ballet was a Christmas present to me from Niki; we went together, and ended up clutching each other’s hands all the way through, and (quietly) squeaking about every five seconds. I know the music of “Swan Lake” very well; I could probably whistle the whole thing for you; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the stagings with the traditional choreography – and still, I came out of Matthew Bourne’s production, wondering whether I would be able to accept gentle female swans ever again. The music wants them to be vicious and violent: the birds of Hitchcock, the sparrows of The Dark Half, avatars of Zeus. Even the hero’s beloved Swan’s tenderness has a sharp edge.
As for the Stranger and his riding crop – it was thrilling to watch him feast his way through women of the royal court, finally conquering both the Queen and the Prince with little less than a wiggle of an eyebrow. He was exactly the type of swaggering dominant man that repels me in real life, but this was, after all, his role in the ballet: to thrill and repel, and he succeeded in both. (Though Niki submitted a request for much tighter leather trousers next time.)
So, how about you? Have you seen it? What did you think? And I need to know: would you pick the Swan or the Stranger?
(It’s the Swan for me, if you’re wondering. Riding crops are all well and good, but I can’t abide posturing in a top.)
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11 Comments
I’m not sure if it was this one, but many years ago at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, I saw an all-male production of Swan Lake (with the same costumes in this photo). It blew me away at the time and I still have very strong imagery from it that has lived on in my mrmory and actually often think about it still. A pas de deux for two men was unheard of back then but possibly one of the most stunning things I’ve seen on stage. Beautiful. Oh, and I’d definitely pick the swan :-)
Yeah, it’ll be the same production. It’s been around for a while.
Swan 2 – Stranger 0 *g*
I really want to see this at some point – I remember when it first opened, the controversy it caused, which made me want to see it even more.
Unfortunately I tend to overlook ballet in favour of opera (obviously) – of course, ideally one wants an opera with ballet in it, of which there are a few…
Then one just needs either the money to go and see it, or the rather better fortune of being in it in the first place. ;)
Amy (who has phoned ENO twice today about tickets. Twice!!! And apparently their system is down until Thursday. *fumes*)
Well, I like both ballet and opera, though my favourite thing during both is to watch the orchestra. :)
Though, I’ve got to say, opera isn’t usually big on beautiful half-naked men. The closest I’ve ever seen to a nice chiselled torso was one staging of Rigoletto. There the Duke, while singing “La donna e mobile”, stripped to the waist in front of a wash-stand and went on washing his armpits. 8-O
Hmm, opera with ballet in it… would that be – I dunno, something to do with Andrew Lloyd Weber? *ducks*
Ouch!
Just you wait till I get my hands on you. I’ll give you a damn good thra… oh. Hang on…
Opera’s getting better on half-naked men. And women.
Mind, I just watched Calixto Bieito’s Don Giovanni on DVD (the one that caused critics to foam at the mouth at the VERY IDEA that opera could be so vile) and that had half-naked blokes in it, Tarantino-esque blood,fellatio and torture in it. By “torture” I regret to say it involved tying some dude to a pool table and twisting his nipples. And in terms of violence there was a bit too much wimping out of decent stage punchs – to the extent of people being “hit” on one side and reacting to it on the other. And also the half-nakedness wasn’t supremely muscular, but then singers ain’t dancers. ;)
Selling it to you, aren’t I?
I couldn’t really fault opera folks for faking punches; I mean, singing requires *breathing*, doesn’t it? LOL
Funnily enough, I was going through last week’s papers, and a review column in the Observer that discusses “La Fille du Regiment” coming up in ROH, is entitled “We love a girl in uniform”. Why, yes, it so happens, we do!
Hello Adele
Glad you enjoyed going to Sadlers Wells.
Men portraying women? Sorry. No thanks. Saw Mark Morris’s company once. It was a complete turnoff for me. As a heterosexual male, what I enjoy is seeing gorgeous women moving beautifully, the men complementing them. Really enjoy Balanchine’s works (are you aware that he was Georgian?), also the Joffrey. Experimental “avant-garde” works generally leave me cold. One of the “hardships” of living on Maui is not going to the Royal Ballet & Sadlers Wells, one of my haunts as a teen. And I miss the Proms (used to have a season ticket, and go *at least* three times a week). Wigmore Hall and so on and so forth.
Spohr’s Nonet for string qtt & wind qtt on Public Radio as I write, a really nifty piece — Public Radio in the US makes Radio Three seem pretty shabby.
As far as opera is concerned, I only enjoy the Mozart Big Four (Cosi, Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni), Rossini’s most popular duo (Il Barbiero, Cenerentola) and Wagner’s “light” opera, Meistersinger.
Oh well, enough maundering. But I would enjoy spending a month or two in London during the season.
Oh well, off to the jacuzzi & pool.
Yrs in pervery, Adrian
Ooh, is that the Fille with Natalie Dessay and Juan Whatsisname Floriz? I like her – she’s teeny and has big eyes.
And I don’t mean they therefore actually punch – you can get away with slapping. a)’cause it’s not as damaging or sore and b) ’cause it can be, er, quite nice (you see why I’m into opera now?!) but for punching I’d just ask that you look like you mean it and the person being hit reacts on the correct side/place that was being “punched”
‘Twould be like a girl being tawsed on the hands and reacting like she’d been hit on the arse. ;)
Adrian – I hear ya re: heterosexuality, but you’re wrong in one thing here: the men in this production are *not* portraying women. Men are men, women are women; it’s just that the initial idea is that the swans (the characters) are male, not just the dancers performing their roles. To be honest, the idea of falling in love with a *bird* is transgressive enough; what gender the bird is becomes kind of secondary after that.
“Oh, I’m in love with a bird – but that’s OK, she’s female.”
Amy – ROTFL That last one’s a fun idea, actually. “Oh, sir… It’s feedback, like from a gun.”
Give me ballet over opera any day! I love the illusion of fragility projected by female ballet dancers, but menacing male swans was a fascinating twist on the classic. Ranks of lean bare chests, gleaming with sweat, the slapping of their bare feet on the stage (as opposed to the knock and thud of pointe shoes), the erotic violence of the M/M pas de deux, the gruesome bloody horrific ending… My head has not stopped spinning! And as if that weren’t enough for me, there was a madhouse scene at the end! With the von Rothbart character in a lab coat, abusing the poor mad prince… Too many kinds of yummy!
At first I said I’d take the Stranger over the Swan, but now I think about it, von Rothbart is probably more to my tastes than either of them. Though Adele and I were entertaining some very naughty domme fantasies of kidnapping a beautiful ballet boy (we thought Albrecht from Giselle would do nicely) and doing evil wicked things to his gorgeous body. Forcing him to dance for us in an emptpy warehouse, then stringing him up to be flogged by a bigger, stronger man… OK, OK, I’ll stop now…
I remember seeing this when Matthew Bourne Toured with it the first time. It was amazing, not only for the male swans but for the fact that for the first time, the males were the prdominant force on the stage and not just the glorified cranes (for lifting the female leads) they can be in the more traditional productions. Swan Lake is one of the most (if not the most) staged ballets in the world and so making it different – and therefore worth seeing once more is not easy. I did the ENB Swan Lake in the round, but that was nothing compared to the innovation Matthew Bourne has given to not only this but other Classical Ballet pieces, such as Highland Fling (La Sylphide) and Nutcracker, not to mention a fabulous erotic, sexually charged vesrion Carmen (The Car Man). His productions are well worth going to see…