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Bourne Reworks Nutcracker! for Sadler's Xmas

Multi award-winning British choreographer Matthew Bourne (pictured) will take on both the English National Ballet and the Royal Ballet in the battle of the Nutcrackers this Christmas. Under the aegis of his recently formed New Adventures company, Bourne is reworking his previous interpretation of the classic ballet set to Tchaikovsky's famous score. Nutcracker! will play at London's Sadler's Wells from 20 November 2002 to 25 January 2003, following a brief stint in Bromley and ahead of a ten-week UK tour.

Bourne's first production of The Nutcracker premiered at Sadler's Wells in 1992 when it was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production. While it features the same creative team, including designer Anthony Ward (who recently designed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Nutcracker! will be a new production. Both choreographed and directed by Bourne, Nutcracker! will feature his trademark style of reinvention, with Clara's fantastical journey taking in aspects of Oliver Twist, the IceCapades and Busby Berkeley musicals.

For 14 years, Bourne was best known, with producer Katharine Dore, as one half of the renowned Adventures in Motion Pictures whose much-lauded works included the all-male Swan Lake, Cinderella and The Car Man. In August 2001, Bourne announced his solo outfit, New Adventures. This summer New Adventures mounts a co-production with the National Theatre of a new work, Play Without Words. Nutcracker! will be the first fully fledged New Adventures offering.

Over the past 18 months, Bourne has also embarked on a number of freelance projects, including choreographing the National Theatre's revivals of South Pacific and My Fair Lady. The latter, still playing at the West End's Theatre Royal Drury Lane, added another statuette (this year's Olivier for Best Theatre Choreographer) to Bourne's extensive awards collection.

Exact dates and venues for Nutcracker!'s 2003 UK tour have yet to be confirmed.

- by Terri Paddock

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