Becoming the Swan in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake | Matthew Bourne, Adam Cooper, Harrison Dowzell

[@loraineparry4671]

Watching Adam perform "the Leap" in Billy Elliott, still brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. Such an emotional and pivotal role in the film. Just BRILLIANT ❤

[@justcurious830]

I agree 100 per cent!

[@eroswv]

Watching the final "Leap" in Billy Elliott is what caused me to seek out the DVD of Bourne's Swan Lake.

[@m.m.14]

Ich liebe diesen Film ich habe ihn bestimmt schon 20 mal gesehen und als ich gerade dieses Video entdeckt habe,habe ich Gänsehaut bekommen ❤🙏👌

[@NewAdventuresOfficial]

It gets us every time!

[@jomattza]

I was privileged to be in London in 1995 with the original ensemble. I had seen Swan Lake many times, sometimes because I had to and had no desire to see it again. A mate of mine said he'd like to take me to see this production, I didnt know anything about it and had just arrived in London for work. He could arrange tickets which were already becoming scarce. We ordered Champagne for interval at Sadler's Wells. It was cold outside but I froze when the dance started and that leap! I cried at the end and still choke up when I see snippets. Simply extraordinary. I couldnt speak during interval.

[@TessaCoker]

I saw the original production too! I worked with a former ballerina and we all went en masse and met some of the dancers after the show

[@jsl1952]

this is absolutely the best reworking of Swan Lake.

[@RitaB1628]

Without doubt, the best thing ever to be seen in the theatre. I have seen every production since that first magical performance of Adam and Scott. Adam still remains the best Swan. I can't wait to see the current production on tour next year. ❤

[@jillgooner]

Yep, they have all been great but when you see the first production the dancers always stick in your mind. I should have booked it twice!😂

[@vancamerawoman7399]

I’d like to see that 😊

[@Aoife-u5x]

Me too ❤ I saw Adam perform SL and fell in love with the whole concept and him😊

[@emmybm15]

Awww Harrison getting to be a former Billy who gets to play The Swan is so beautiful ❤❤❤ Adam is such a gorgeous dancer ❤

[@user-sv4rp4iz81]

Watching Adam do the leap is so intense. Love this ballet 🎉🎉🎉

[@juliedatson6318]

The best version of swan Lake ever

[@jeffwatkins352]

Huge Tchaikovsky fan, love the music of Swan Lake but was always surprised that seeing it done as a ballet invariably left me cold. The Bourne version changed everything. I can hardly think of it now without being deeply moved. Dowzell looks like he does a wonderful job. But Cooper remains iconic in a hauntingly intense way that IMO can never be matched.

[@荻原澄恵-z9i]

Having seen Adam Cooper in this role back in 2003 in Tokyo is the very reason why I’m so into the art of dance now 🦢🩶

[@jenniturner8931]

I was fortunate to see Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake for the first time in the West End in July or August 1997. It was the firsr time Swan Lake had ever really made sense to me with the male dancers showing the huge strength of the swans. The theatre was spellbound!!!! Totally magnificent!! Have seen it in Sydney and would love to see it again. Bravo!! ❤

[@jillgooner]

@jenniturner8931 I know how you feel. Saw it a couple of weeks ago and still filled up with tears. Adam was a great dancer and always put on on a great performance at the Royal ballet. Very sad that several years ago the dancer who played the lead was killed in a bike accident. It moves me more than the original version I must admit and love the club scene which looks like a Bob Fossey production.

[@jillgooner]

@jenniturner893 his sleeping beauty was very good as well

[@jenniturner8931]

@jillgooner I will keep an eye out for that. Thank you

[@jillgooner]

@jenniturner8931 I wish his Highland Fling would come around again that was great too. Based on La Sylphide. I believe it is now performed by Scottish Ballet.

[@sandrapearson728]

I looked up Harrison and found a link to a Facebook entry from when he was 11 and had just got the role of Billy Elliot. So incredible life imitating art as he is now the new swan.

[@gertrudamort1382]

So wonderful ! Best last scene of a movie ever. This video makes me cry ! Thank you ❤️

[@HBADGERBRAD]

Oh how I have dreamed of seeing this in person. Thankful recorded performance! For a male ballet dancer a hundred years ago I am jealous and in complete awe❣️

[@Beach510]

Watching artist perform is amazing. Watching the power of male ballet dancers is magical. Male dancers are the best.

[@ttbko]

This is my absolute favourite ballet. Such exquisite beauty, entirely portrayed by a man.

[@RachelDavies-wn7ir]

When I first saw Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake , a child nearby was incredibly excited when the 'Billy Elliot' swans appeared.

[@AndersBu]

I get goosebumps every time still watching Billy Elliot do the 🦢 This is amazing !

[@caroleshaw5370]

absolutely wonderful❤❤❤

[@victorhuglin3266]

Probably the most moving emotional theatre experience ever every time

[@bladepanthera]

I saw Harrison as the Swan on Wednesday and it was an exquisite performance. Really loved it and wish I could go back and watch it a thousand time from different angles to absorb all the details. 🤍🖤

[@roberthead9149]

I am sitting in a shopping mall in a cafe trying to keep the tears back. I can scarcely imagine what it must have been like in the theatre

[@bingbangbongmukbang3015]

I want to dance so bad. Watching this I found tears streaming down my face as it taken something so epic and it really hit home. It shocked me to the core. I can dance. This will be my inspiration. Thank you for showing me it is possible something I can work towards. ❤

[@christenawalker2944]

I Love both versions the male dancers bring such strength and power to the swan while the ladies show off grace and beauty and the corp both versions are spectacular! BRAVO!!

[@Qrtuop]

No, men need to step the f away, they invade everything that isn't theirs

[@quietmeow2936]

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake forever wonderfully changed the experience of ballet for me.

[@janrouse2642]

My first ever visit to see a ballet and I'm hooked.

[@PhillipGiosio]

Wish I could see this show live... on the stage...maybe one day 🙏 🤞 so awesome , so brilliant in every way

[@Lana.S.Boyd49]

This production is absolutely breathtaking, I could watch it every night!

[@nefwaenre]

Ever since i was a kid, i wanted to see a male Swan with a male Prince. i can't believe this actually exists. i have goosebumps right now. The part where he ends up emotional during the rehearsal was so powerful. ♥ Thank you for this.

[@kellytyrrell1253]

Phenomenal…storyline perfectly supported by choreography!

[@sharonbeach8446]

It evokes such emotion. A beautiful production

[@faithgoodman7957]

Saw HARRISON as the Swan last night. He was absolutely amazing. The whole cast and show were fabulous but Harrison was fantastic. Thank you 🙂🙂🙂🙂

[@redshoesgirl]

no one can do The Swan like Cooper. the precision of his hands especially. always in control but so lyrical. the new guy has hands/fingers that are not precise. i was out of town on an assignment, watching tv late night in the hotel, thoroughly enjoying billy elliot. then The Leap. i sat straight up and said out loud "who the heck is that?!!!!" even so many years ago we did have search engines, thank heavens!

[@the_dancerjen1773]

I needed to take a moment to wipe tears from my eyes watching this. This show was an absolute game changer for me when I saw it in Los Angeles in 2019. I WEPT in the audience. No ballet (and I've been to a lot and have performed a lot) has ever moved me like MB New Adventures has. I'm hoping it might come back through the states. This video of talking to the legend Adam Cooper and then new Swan Harrison Dowzell was a real treat! 🦢💖

[@kategibb5245]

Have this twice and it's wonderful.Heart stoppingly beautiful and powerful

[@teresitamarino6693]

I love it, always saw the clasical interpretation, .but this is real, .he is a swan, .so are the others but him, shakes my soul, .he is a great dancer and artist, congratulations to.all of them. ❤❤❤

[@larhumba4233]

🥺😢😥 There will never be another 2 dancers in this show like Adam and Scott. Truly breathtaking, beautiful and deeply emotional. Like Darcey, Adam is tall and his body proportions embodied the Swan, and was pure sex as the Stranger. Scott, like the best NA dancers, was a superb actor and lived the role of the Prince, he was so heartbreaking to watch. Both Legends. Matthew created a masterpiece way ahead of, yet so appropriately of it's time. And still the Royal Family fascinates us. 🌹❤️🌟🌟🫶

[@hori166]

The chemistry between Adam Cooper and Scott Ambler was unique. I did not feel it in the two live performances I attended with different dancers a few years apart.

[@nancywysemen7196]

my god, wonderful emotion.....

[@christianealshut1123]

I LOVE Sir Matthew's modern takes on some of the classical ballets of our time - this one as well as his version of the Nutcracker, which is set in an orphanage.

[@MissSeyton]

The first I saw male dancer sharing something like an intimate 'all male dance' (sorry, missing the right vocabulary here) was in 'Mayerling' and there was such an amazing energy and power in that scene. I absolutely loved it.

[@rcury25]

It will be very hard for another group to beat the emotions that the 1st. Swan Lake made me feel. Specially Adam Cooper who is and will always be the King Swan.

[@angelaharding8276]

Adam is an amazing dancer. This is my favourite re-work of Swan lake.

[@catheriam1945]

i cannot watch the last five minutes without com;pletely breaking down in tears. I wish I could because the emotional POW of the ballet and the superb choreography make Bourne's ballet so compelling and beautiful ... only, I just can't!!!!!😥

[@Belaugh]

@@catheriam1945 Don't worry, it's not just you! I love Harrison's Swan, as good as Adam but just different And bringing something else to the role. Neither better nor worse, but different - himself.

[@dianegilbank5095]

This has had me in tears too! I just love this ballet so much

[@Aoife-u5x]

Saw Adam in SL. Just glorious. ❤

[@ChristineBertei]

So beautiful!

[@mariannebowman6114]

Absolutely magnificent!

[@scotty503]

I wonder if part of the extraordinary power of Bourne's production is that the men unlocked the real personal essence and meaning, indeed secret, of Tschaikowsky's score. In the way Symphony 6 does.

[@fragrancescott3701]

quel film ! je l'ai vu, revu et toujours les mm émotions, et Jamie est époustouflant

[@drsflyer]

Hello everyone! Swan Lake is my favorite ballet at all. Not at least I should be named by Odette… but the history wrote another letter and I was born together with my twin as boys.😊 Very late, in my 20s I have had the opportunity to learn ballet basics in half-professional Studioballett-Berlin. Nowadays, with an age of 61 I dance historical dances in Dresden. I had the opportunity to realize what does it mean to do classical ballet and the fire was burning much more than ever for this technique and of course for Swan Lake. After seeing so much different styles of staging Swan Lake, I discovered this one of Matthew Bourne. inspired by Billie Elliot movie. It was and is an absolutely thrilling discovery and adventure! What tremendously power and emotions made by excellent choreography and characterizing every role. The physical demands for the dancers are incredible and the dramatic of reading this fairytale is gripping! I am really lucky to see that this choreography will be transmitted time by time to new dancers. It’s interesting to see the similarity of stepping through the process by new dancers. At the end, every dancer brings his own personality into the role what it makes so interesting and thrilling as on the first time I saw something of this ballet. I am really grateful to see this. I am highly appreciated. Finally, I wish all dancers and the choreograph exciting performances good health and today Merry Christmas. Thank you so much, indeed. JOERG

[@pamelatitterington2453]

It's Truly beautiful,I would love to see it , it's very special❤

[@yourmetalsister2958]

I hope you get to see it.

[@danieldumas7361]

Sitting alone in a "Box", I quitey wept through the ending....& still, to this day...

[@YolandeFitzpatrick-s1l]

Just beautiful. Mesmerizing

[@falkon26]

Beautiful.

[@eileenharrison7816]

I’ve seen this twice. Quite the most beautiful and emotional performance ❤️‍🔥

[@Tallinheels]

My college chum gave me her ticket as she couldn’t get in from Camarillo to LA. I was rapt from the beginning and I don’t think I moved a muscle. Visually stunning and emotionally draining. It made me proud that I’m a Founder at the LA Music Center and I’ve seen Hepburn in Coco and Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh in RSC productions of Lear and As You Like It and so much more.

[@susancartt-we9px]

The look on Billy's fathers' face at seeing his son enter with that leap is perfection! I had the privilege to dance in Coco with Hepburn in LA and NYC. 80 y.o. former dancer.

[@penelopewarren3168]

This is fascinating and, in itself, so moving.

[@Dawnie65]

You actually feel the dads response to seeing billy leap on to the stage

[@susancartt-we9px]

Yes! My favorite moment.

[@JoannaPawlowicz-n7m]

Adam, quelle performance ❤

[@gaynormainwaring1853]

I can’t wait to see this, got my tickets!

[@Belle_DiosaVegana]

❤wow❤

[@samayat8371]

Pyotr Tchaikovsky would be happy to see just such an interpretation of his ballet. It would be very close and understandable to him.

[@anettekelund9028]

Love this!

[@dianegilbank5095]

My all time favourite ballet.

[@user-hj1mk7zy6t]

Bravo!! That was amazing!

[@beverleyredman4408]

So amazing to see the lovely Scott Ambler as the original prince..sorely missed😢

[@jmorrison9314]

Amazing.

[@susanoppat3138]

It’s everything.

[@teresathompson1114]

Going to see this Feb 19th

[@yourmetalsister2958]

Enjoy! Take plenty of tissues.I'm going to see it in April.

[@riverzen99]

the best show I ever watch here at ahmanson theater in LA saw it 2x

[@ireneclark4849]

Loved Richard Winsor as the Swan/ Stranger in the 2011 world tour and DVD.

[@catzkeet4860]

Its beautiful AND very masculine, as swans are. If youve ever seen 2 swan cobs fighting youll see just how strong, and powerful they really are. Its not all airy fairy "prettiness" theres a power in the imagery of swans. Grace isnt just a feminine quality.

[@Postinaway]

And strength isn't just a male one.

[@susanyork5089]

Going to Sadlers Wells next month , saw the last production 3 times in Hull and Bradford , it is perfection , thrilling , funny , erotic and beautiful

[@jennyflockton2810]

This isn’t about gayness !!! It’s a different aspect and if you knew anything about male swans you would see how accurate it is.Stunning,beautiful and very innovative.wonderful,very emotional story done to perfection.😘🌻🐓🦋💕

[@AgainstAnimalAbuse]

Sorry RIP Scott

[@irinasolyanik7002]

сначало был шок..Мариинка, Большой..а тут такое виденье музыки Чайковского..а потом.. восторг 😍

[@lilygregory8998]

Please everyone watch out for pickpocketers before and after the show! People going to the theatre and leaving in massive crowds all at once make it a great target! I saw one of them go for a woman’s coat pocket last night who’d been to the ballet.

[@Carolinamoonbeam66]

Sorry, but so is this same syx swan lake alterntive?

[@AgainstAnimalAbuse]

I cannot watch swan lake, Only the one now with the male dancers. I have the DVD with Adam and Scott from when it first got released, I love it. I think most people remember Adams leap at the end of Billy Elliott. RIP Adam

[@s.p.8803]

Adam Cooper is alive

[@Qrtuop]

No, I prefer women, thanks.

[@jillgooner]

@Qrtuop I love the women as well but you can't compare them as totally different era's. Often remakes are a bit disappointing but not this.

[@zamyrabyrd]

What they don't get is the tension between the duality of male and female expressed through their bodily structures. Monochromatic, in a word.

[@esterhudson5104]

Trying WAY too hard. Desperate really.

[@s.p.8803]

Don't be jealous of talent, it's really ugly and pityful

[@s.p.8803]

And yet, very successful for 2 decades. Cry about it.

[@ot8479]

The most segregated production in town.

[@carlaportocarrero6464]

This is Preposterous!!! Are they making this a gay thing as well???!!?? Terrible, just terrible!!!!

[@busybee1066]

Matthew Bourne's version has been shown since nearly 30 years, no need to be shocked now. In 2024 there should finally be space for variation. Aside from that Tchaikovsky might not have thought it preposterous to "make it gay" as he was a gay man himself.

[@Belaugh]

There are things that transcend sexuality and gender. This is one of them.

[@pansepot1490]

I was hoping OP was being ironic…

[@Belaugh]

@@carlaportocarrero6464 Perhaps you should consider that this has been a hot ticket around the world for 30 years, and then see this version before you judge it. And if you know swans, you will see how well their true characters and dangerous beauty is captured in this version.

[@zamyrabyrd]

The tension and interplay of male/female is at the heart of this ballet, no doubt most others. They really miss the point.

[@knothead35]

I dislike everything Bourne does

[@emcarver8983]

Ffs