Matthew Bourne

By genlangford

  • Birth

    Born in London on the 13th January 1960

  • Degree

    Received a bachelor's degree in dance theatre from London's Laban Centre.

  • Adventures in Motion Pictures

    Co-founded the artistic company, AMP, after receiving his training with Emma Gladstone and David Massingham. He became the artistic director in 1991.

  • The Nutcracker

    Bourne radically reinterpreted Tchaikovsky's classic ballet The Nutcracker - a hallmark of his choreographic style.

  • Highland Fling

    He choreographed Filipino Taglioni's, La Sylphide, to be reimagined to take place in a housing project in modern-day Glasgow, Scotland.

  • Swan Lake - updated!

    Bourne restaged Swan Lake to have the swans played by shirtless men in shorts with shredded silk representing feathers and placed it in a contemporary, dysfunctional family. His production of Swan Lake is the longest-running ever (1995-present).

  • New Adventures

    Launched by Bourne in 2002, New Adventures put on successful productions of Play Without Words, The Red Shoes, and several revivals. The company toured many of its shows internationally and won several awards.

  • Knighting

    Awarded a knighthood in the 2016's New Year's Honours List for services to dance.

  • The Red Shoes

    Bourne's 11th full-length production. It has won two Olivier Awards in 2017 (Best Entertainment and Best Theatre Choreographer).

  • Romeo and Juliet

    Bourne rechoreographed and set Romeo and Juliet in the setting of a dystopian institute for teenagers. It is (an even darker) version of Shakespeare's classic which featured 97 dancers in their professional debut.