Matthew Bourne and His Adventures in Dance

by Alastair Macaulay

In 1987, a small, aspirant dance group with a striking name made its debut on the London fringe. In 1996, "Adventures in Motion Pictures" made history as the first modern dance company to open a production in London's West End. From this achievement, AMP sailed triumphantly to Broadway - winning three Tony Awards - guided by Artistic Director Matthew Bourne. Even before the inception of AMP, Bourne was fascinated by theatre, by characterization, and by the history of dance. In his early works - "Spitfire", "Town & Country" and "Deadly Serious" - Bourne brought a novel approach to dance. And in his reworkings of the classics of the ballet canon - "Nutcracker", "Swan Lake", "Cinderella" - Bourne created witty, vivid, poignant productions that received great acclaim. In the first decade of the new millennium, the company name was changed to New Adventures, and Bourne's 'classics', as well as Bourne's new works - "The Car Man", "Play Without Words", "Edward Scissorhands" and "Dorian Gray" - achieved levels of box-office popularity that have seldom, if ever, been matched in dance. In addition, his choreography for various musicals - "My Fair Lady", "Mary Poppins" and "Oliver!" - have run for years in the West End and on Broadway. The detail in which Bourne discusses his work with Alastair Macaulay is unprecedented. The two explore Bourne's upbringing, his training and influences, and his distinctive creative methods. Bourne's notebooks, his sources and his collaboration with dancers all from part of the discussion in this book.

768 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Graydon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decided to read this to use as a source for an assignment, and while it was informative in some aspects, in general it was just a rather boring read.