Bourne, Matthew (1960-…), is a British choreographer (dance creator) known for his unconventional adaptations of ballet classics. Bourne first gained fame in 1995 for his version of Swan Lake, a famous Russian ballet with music by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. Bourne retained the original music but rewrote the story with all the female roles taken by male dancers. The production became the longest-running ballet in the history of both London and New York City.
Other classic ballets that received unorthodox adaptations from Bourne include The Nutcracker (2002), set in a Victorian orphanage; and La Sylphide, retitled Highland Fling (2005), which he partly located among drug users in Glasgow, Scotland. Bourne’s 1997 ballet version of the fairy tale Cinderella takes place in London during World War II (1939-1945). His version of the opera Carmen, retitled The Car Man (2000), is set in a garage. Bourne has choreographed revivals of several musical comedies, as well as the first stage version of the musical Mary Poppins (2004), for which he was also codirector.
Bourne has been strongly influenced by motion pictures. He directed and choreographed Play Without Words (2002), based on the 1963 movie The Servant. He also adapted the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands into a ballet in 2005. Bourne adapted the Oscar Wilde novel The Picture of Dorian Gray into the ballet Dorian Gray (2008).
Bourne was born in London on Jan. 30, 1960. He did not begin training as a dancer until he was 22, a late age to start a dance career. Bourne studied dance theater and choreography at the Laban Centre in London, graduating in 1985. He danced in the school’s performance company, Transitions, for a year. Bourne retired as a performer in 1999.
Bourne founded the dance company Adventures in Motion Pictures in 1987 and served as its artistic director until 2002. That year, he formed a new company called New Adventures.
