Matthew Bourne

This article is about the choreographer. For the British jazz musician, see Matthew Bourne (musician). For the professional wrestler known as Matt Borne, see Matt Osborne.

Sir
Matthew Bourne
OBE
Born (1960-01-13) 13 January 1960 (age 64)
Hackney, London
NationalityBritish
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Alma materLaban Centre
Occupations
Years active1985–present
OrganizationNew Adventures (dance company)
Notable work
TelevisionThe Nutcracker 1992
Awards
Honours
Websitenew-adventures.net

Sir Matthew Christopher Bourne OBE (born 13 January 1960) is a British choreographer. His productions contain many classic cinema and popular culture references and draw thematic inspiration from musicals, film noir and popular culture

Popular novels and films usually form the basis for his work but Bourne's dance adaptations are sui generis, distinct from their originals. For example, his 1995 restaging of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake updated the ballet's setting, narrative and famously used all-male swans.

Workshops, collaboration and the innevitable dialogue with the original works inform many of his adaption's choreographical routines and thematic concepts. For his 1997 reimagining of Cinderella, Bourne invoked the Victorian and Edwardian eras by disseminating certain books and novels from those time periods amongst the production's cast members.

His New Adventures dance company's work covers ballet, contemporary dance, dance theatre and musical theatre.

His adaptations of Sleeping Beauty, Edward Scissorhands, The Red Shoes, Dorian Gray, and Lord of the Flies added new dimensions to these near-ubiquitous stories. Bourne's recent work, The Midnight Bell, sets Patrick Hamilton's 1929 novel in a pub, and Bourne's Romeo and Juliet put the tragedy's mental health and youth suicide themes centre stage.

In 2016, he was knighted as part of Queen Elizabeth II 2016 New Year Honours list for 'Services to Dance'.[3]

  1. ^ Healy, Patrick (17 May 2009). "ArtsBeat ArtsBeat New York Times Blog Drama Desk Awards Announced". New York Times. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference DramaDeskAward was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "New Year's Honours 2016". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 February 2023.