Customer Reviews
Superb interpretation - Miss it at your peril - By: Arts Enthusiast, 18 May 2008 
A truly wonderful interpretation of the timeless classic. Every bit as stunning as seeing it live. Probably not one for the children, so if you are looking for that seek out a more traditional production.
It is witty, excellently crafted & moving. A world wide phenomenon & and instant classic. It is difficult for a DVD to truly capture the magic of a live performance, but this does an admirable job.
Essential viewing for all of the Billy Elliot's out there!
This is no traditional Swan Lake! Not for the children! - By: D. Bussel, 31 Mar 2008 
Oh what a fool I was - I chose this one to watch with my children & my mother prior to taking them to Swan Lake performed by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Watching this dvd was just a waste of time for us as we realised our mistake & scanned through it trying (but failing) to find some relevance to the story which we had read many times.
I had heard that many people walked out of M. Bourne's male swan productionin disgust, but as his name was not mentionedin the title I foolishly did not realise what this dvd really was. I think this is extremely misleading.
If anyone agrees with me maybe you could write a review as they all seem pretty one-sided & rating this with 4 & 5 stars. I think that is exterely misleading.
A great ballet In a brilliant new light - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 04 Jun 2007 Hold on to your lids, kids, a traditional Swan Lake this is not. Matthew Bourne, probably Britain's greatest contemporary choreographer, has reset the old & great ballet into a tale of British royal satire, repressed sexuality & just plain human longing for comfort & protection. And if you've heard about this version, it is definitely not all male; there are plenty of female dancers around. The Swan Queen, however, is now The Swan King. The corps de ballet who form The Swan King's court, traditionally delicate swan maidensin white tutus, are now bare-chested, muscular male swans with mean, dark-shadowed eyes, twitching heads & hair combed to a dark point down their foreheads. They wear something like feathered leggings from waist to knee.
The traditional Swan Lake story has the young prince encountering an enchanted princess, human by night, a swan by day, who can only have the spell broken by true love. The prince swears his devotion, but is tricked by the sorcerer into thinking another is The Swan Queen. He realizes his mistake, but it's too late. He rushes to the lake, finds The Swan Queen & joins herin death but reunitedin love.
In Bourne's version it is Britainin the Fifties. We meet the young prince as a fearful child, dominated by his unfeeling mother, the Queen, & manipulated by the Queen's evil press secretary. The lonely boy finds comfort only by imagining a brave swan who will protect him & look over him. Ten years later the prince still is dominated by his mother, who has scarcely aged. He thinks he loves a young woman who is considered unsuitable by the Queen. She announces she will hold a ball & introduce him to proper candidates. Eventuallyin a drunken, repressed rage, he finds himself on the shores of a park lake. Asin a dream he encounters The Swan King & the King's court of male swans. The ball is held, but the press secretary introduces the Queen to his own son, who looks just like The Swan King. The Queen announces she will marry him. The prince strikes his mother, he is confined & apparently operated on. In a delirium he encounters the real Swan King again, who protects him from the male swans who have appeared around his bed. The end of the ballet has the Prince dead on the floor. The Swan King stands high above the bed, holdingin his arms the body of the Prince as a child.
The two great dance set pieces are the divertissement of the second act, where the Prince meets the Swan King & the male swans, & the Queen's Ball where all the manipulations & angst come to a head. If nothing else, the divertissement is worth the price of the disc. This is choreography & dance of the highest order. Tchaikovsky's music, so well-known & so great, has never seemed fresher. At times playing against political satire, at other times playing against a completely revisionist view of what a corps de ballet should be, the lush, romantic music turns out to be a wonderful counterpoint to Bourne's muscular choreography.
While one can argue (I would) that the ballet is as much about the Prince's repressed sexuality as it is his loneliness, this aspect is understated. The ballet is full of prostitutes, paparazzi, sailors & princesses on the make. The Queen bears a resemblance, perhaps unintentional, to a Joan Collins-like woman who keeps boy toys amongst her palace guard. The palace ball reeks of casual, corrupt omni-sexuality.
Adam Cooper dances The Swan King. He's a handsome, tough-looking guy who carries off the part with style. Scott Ambler dances The Prince & is just as good. The DVD's picture & audio are first-rate. There is an informative insert which includes an interview with Matthew Bourne. I recommend this disc highly for those who like ballet, Tchaikovsky, great choreography & great dancing -- & who might appreciate a startling new look at things.
Great show! - By: Georgios Xenias, 24 Mar 2007 
I watched a live performance of this Swan Lake last month & left the theater with mixed emotions. I was exhilarated by the whole concept, but somewhat disappointed with the choreography itself. I thought perhaps it was the fault of the dancers, so I bought the dvd with the original performers. Well, my opinion is still unchanged. This is a great show, but not a great ballet work.
Matthew Bourne re-interprets the classic "swan lake" storyin a very subtle & imaginative way. His probbing into the soul of a hurt, dominated, rejected & (possibly) homosexual young man is brilliant. He utilizes themes that already existin the story (the prince's reluctancy to marry, his mother's demand that he complies with customary behaviour,) but shifts the focus, to create something entirely new & modern. What's more, Bourne even maintains most of the structure of the classic choreographhy. The Act 2 Adagio is still a pas-de-deux for the prince & his Swan, the four little swans get to do their piece, etc. Yet, his choreography is neither traditional, nor modern. It's something in-between, -a timid mixture of classic ballet & contemprary-dance, often resembling some Broadway-musical type of work.
But then, this whole thing was conceived as a West End performance. Since it has by now achieved a somewhat "legendary" status, we are perhaps inclined to judge it by standards that may have little to do with Bourne's original intentions.
This may indeed explain the way the performance was filmed, -which has proven disappointing to some other (re)viewers. True, there is a tendency for close-ups, whichin a (classic) ballet performance are ususally distracting, as the viewer can not actually follow the choreography. I have a feeling, though, that the choreography is second to the dramain this case, therefore the cinematographers' choice may have been appropriate. We get more detail here. Several thing that we guessed, or "suspected"in the theater, become clear when watching the dvd.
There are, of course, some shortcomings as well. In the Bar scene, we do not get the ensemble effect of the '60s "shake" dance (I was amazed at how brilliantly this matched, & contrasted at the same time, Tchaikovsky's musicin the theater.) In Act 2 the movement of the swans seems a bit muddled, but that is the overall feeling I got from the theatrical performance as well. Their appearancein the last scene was definitely more effectivein the theater, but I'm not sure if that has to do with the filming, or with the nature of the medium itself. I'm afraid there's really no way to capture the thrill of a "live" performance on film.
Allin all, I'd say that the filming is quite good, though I may not agree totally with some of the film-makers' choices.
Finally, the dancers. The "ensemble" (should we call them "corps-de-ballet"?) are quite capable of coping with the choreographer's demands, -each one on his own! They just do not bother to synchronize with each other. However, they are all very expressive, whichin this case is as important as their dancing skills.
Emily Piercy is the Prince's girlfriend. She's cute & funny & does make an impression, but with this coreography I just cann't be sure of how accomplished a dancer she actually is.
Fiona Chadwick as the Queen is ravishing. She's cruel & distant & sexy, all at the same time. Whow!!!
Scott Ambler is the Prince. He creates a likeable character & his dancing is excellent, but he does not shine as much as his Swan does. Well, how many Princes do you know, who can out-shine their feathered partners?
Which brings us to Adam Cooper. He alone would be enough reaason for anyone to watch this dvd! He is a wonderful dancer & actor. His white Swan is threateningin the beginning, but as the pas-de-deux progresses he becomes more tender by the minute (without ever becoming effeminate or ridiculous.) His Black Swan (here, called the Stranger) is so sexy & sinister, that a friend who was watching the dvd with me exclaimed: "Oh God, I hope I never fallin love with somebody like this! I'd know I'd bein trouble, but I just would not be able to resist him!" I believe that says it all!
Frustrated by the DVD Production - By: Dancing Kiwi, 13 Sep 2006 
I loved the live show. It is an interesting & unique interpretation of a great classic. I very much respect Matthew Bourne's work. The "swan" choreography is great. Adam Cooper dances beautifully. I was however frustrated with the composition / production of the DVD. I was constantly annoyed by the close ups that would cut into a wonderful flow of steps or the graceful patterns evolvingin the choreography. In my opinion filming shots for ballet should never be smaller than the whole form of the body. In ballet the expressiveness is a whole body communication & therefore close up shots of faces is loosing part of the overall drama. It feels disjointed & I found it difficult to be swept away with the dance as I wasin the theatre.
