Bourne to be wild

10:17am Monday 17th January 2005

As north London's ballet bad-boy Matthew Bourne prepares to wend his way south of the river to open his new show, he takes time-out to speak to Jolene Hill about controversy, creativity and fairies bouncing on urinals.

Choreographer-cum-director Matthew Bourne, is in the process of reviving his 1994 production, Highland Fling. The UK tour kicks off at Bromley's Churchill Theatre on February 12. Lez Brotherson's redesigned costumes and settings, promise a "riot of tartan"and Bourne says the story acts as an escape into the realms of fantasy.

As the show's action begins in a Glasgow nightclub, it should resonate with those who work all week and unwind at the weekend.

Highland Fling is the modern-day version of La Sylphide, first choreographed by Filippo Taglioni, in 1832.

Taglioni's daughter Marie, played La Sylphide (the sylph) and as well as launching the Romantic ballet movement, he made famous the image of the white tu-tu'd ballerina, with hair scraped into a bun.

The sylph (Kerry Biggin and Noi Tolmer) is an unearthly siren who lures the young Glaswegian, James (Will Kemp and James Leece), from his bed on his wedding night into an enchanting, mysterious world.

Bourne has earned himself the reputation as ballet's bad-boy. He is hailed as the Damien Hirst of dance because of allegedly subversive elements in his productions. These include the rude, aggressive children in Mary Poppins and the male angel who replaces Cinderella's fairy godmother.

But his most controversial work to date is his version of Swan Lake. He replaced the cutsey score of ballerinas with bare-chested, feather-legged men which, as well as packing theatres across London, provoked an outcry due to the perceived, subversive, gay element.

Although, Bourne has been with his partner Arthur Pi for many years, he denies there is any gay element.

He says, "I've never understood where that came from. They aren't gay, they're just male swans."

I wonder whether he finds it mildly annoying in this day and age, with people so concerned with equality, that he raised a sensation in this way.

"Well, yes," he says, "I do find it slightly annoying. At the performances, people were pointing at girls in the cast, saying to each other, Yes, she's definitely a man, she's definitely a man'. Those poor girls!"

Bourne's modern adaptation of Highland Fling may shock some.

"The sylphs are covered in grass and there is even a scene where they go hunting for small animals. They do live in the forest after all. At one stage, the sylph is even seen bouncing on the urinal," he explains.

Bourne loves to tell his audience a story and this is one of the reasons La Sylphide holds such an appeal.

The night club setting conjures up its own images but even the idea of the sylph as personifying beauty, does not remain intact.

"It will be an evening full of surprises. It will be shocking as well as beautiful, that is, as beautiful as a urinal could ever be."

The lack of dramatic, commanding, music meant Bourne had to put his directing skills to work on the characters.

"I had to make them quite hot-headed so when they burst into violent moods it would be acceptable," he says.

Bourne's innovative method of making his dancers act and project the character's personality has been widely lauded as a blending of dance and theatre.

"People should be able to just watch and understand the show without having to figure out the plot."

But there are critics who accuse Bourne of being more of a director than a choreographer, due to the simplicity of the steps in his productions but he shrugs the sting off good-naturedly.

"If I wasn't a choreographer first off, I wouldn't be able to put the productions together but admittedly, it's not my strongest point."

And he makes a fair point, saying, "The public come out of the performances thinking it is the most amazing thing they've ever seen, they aren't thinking about steps."

To speak of further criticism, many theatre fans will recoil in horror to hear Bourne will be using recorded music, at all venues outside Sadler's Wells. "It's not artistic choice," he explains, "it's a money shortfall." He also says using the full orchestra of 30 musicians would be impossible for some of the tour's venues.

But the question must be asked, how is a 170-year-old ballet really relevant to a 21st century audience?

"There is a message of sorts.James yearns after this exciting woman who urges him to leave his home and marriage. But she's dangerous," he says, referring to the way in which the wild sylph taunts and teases the character.

"In the end he wants to destroy her and retrieve the ordinary life he had before." A message to would-be philanderers which has surely stood the test of time.

- Highland Fling, Churchill Theatre, High Street, Bromley, February 12 to February 19, 7.45pm, £18.50-£22.50, 0870 060 6620.