ICDS BOURNE

Question 1

What works are included in Bourne’s discography?

Answer 1

1. Swan Lake
2. Romeo + Juliet
3. Nutcracker
4. The Car Man
5. Lord of the Flies
6. Sleeping Beauty
7. Spitfire

Question 2

When was Swan Lake first created, and then reworked?

Answer 2

1995, 2006

Question 3

When was the Nutcracker created and reworked?

Answer 3

1992, 2002

Question 4

When did Sleeping Beauty first premier?

Answer 4

2012
latest run - 2022 to 23

Question 5

When did Lord of the Flies first premier?

Answer 5

2014

Question 6

What’s the aural setting like in LOTF

Answer 6

• Choirboy voices
• Music becomes clamorous; howls and beats
• Grunting and shouting
• Cello elegies
• Thumping base
• Insistent drumming

Question 7

What was special about the cast of LOTF?

Answer 7

At each stop on UK tour, production auditioned 22 local boys to perform alongside its professional cast

Question 8

What was the impact of the inclusion of younger cast members in LOTF?

Answer 8

Inclusive - gets boys involved in dance. New Adventures added young boys to the cast who had never danced before. Young people come and watch, and then want to get involved.

Question 9

What movement content was involved in LOTF?

Answer 9

• Initial sporty motifs
• Evolves into stamping, flailing war dances
• Naturalistic movement language
• Two contrasting ensemble numbers; one based on neat, cadet-like marching, later one based on heavy threatening stamping

Question 10

What political message is there in LOTF?

Answer 10

• That no person is intrinsically good or bad.
• Challenges stereotypes of young boys
• Terrorist event is suggested

Question 11

Who took part in LOTF and Sleeping Beauty?

Answer 11

Cameron Flynn, young cast of Lord of the Flies (Aberdeen 2014) before joining New Adventures in 2019 for Romeo + Juliet.

Question 12

What movement content examples are there in Spitfire?

Answer 12

One male dancer supports another male dancer in a headstand, as his arm wraps around the other dancer’s knees in the air. The other dancer rests on the right side of his head looking out at the audience. Both dancers have their right arms raised in the air in a flexed position masculine position.

Question 13

What movement content examples are there in Spitfire? (2)

Answer 13

Dancer 1 lifts dancer 2 so that his back is to dancer 1’s stomach, his legs wrapped in attitude derriere around his waist. Dancer 1 leans forward slightly, his arms wrapped around dancer 2’s waist and thigh, as Dancer 2 turns his head to face the audience, pouting, with his arms in third arabesque but with his fists clenched and his wrists at an angle.

Question 14

What multidisciplinary approaches is used in Swan Lake?

Answer 14

Stylised over the top way - Royal Palace scene as the young prince is being prepared for the day

Question 15

What Pedestrian Gestures are used in Swan Lake?

Question 16

What new forms of staging is used in Bourne’s works?

Answer 16

Use of levels for multiple scenes to happen - The Car Man
Transformable sets - Swan Lake

Question 17

How was the accessibility of dance increased through Bourne?

Answer 17

Swan Lake in cinemas in 2018, Red Shoes in 2020.
- Breaks down financial barriers
- Removes geographical barriers
Other works on BBC and Sky Arts

Question 18

What stands out about Bourne’s works and intentions?

Answer 18

• Interested in intertextuality
• Wants to evoke commentary on the world today
• Didactic enemy’s of children’s stories (moral instruction)
• Uk’s biggest dance export for the last 10 years
• appeals to wide audiences
• mixes fantasy with social realism

Question 19

Bourne mixes fantasy with social realism. How is this shown?

Answer 19

NUTCRACKER - popular traditional christmas story with fantastical elements.
- Orphanage cracked walls, dull colours etc.
- Grum austerity if many institutions historically in England
- Dr Dross symbolises cruelty : brandishes whip and causes orphans to cower on his knees
- tense atmosphere further highlighted by accompaniment as a tremolo in the strings emphasises feelings of fear

Question 20

Why is Bourne important to Sadler’s Wells?

Answer 20

He is key choreographer to provide income, increasing their revenue which in turn increases the amount of Arts Council funding (10% of takings)
- Edward Scissorhands sold 95,000 tickets and ran for 11 weeks

Question 21

How does Swan Lake challenge audiences perceptions?

Answer 21

• People initially walked out when it premieres - not afraid to shy away from the controversial
• AIDS crises + Thatcher’s conservative ideology
• Bourne’s own experience as a gay man allowed him to transfer his own frustration towards underrepresentation and erasure into his work, breaking political boundaries while creating a beautifully personal piece.