upfront
MATTHEW
BOURNE
The award-winning
choreographer's new
dance piece tackles
savage literary classic
Lord Of The Flies. A risky
gambit, with half the cast
novice dancers. Heather
Arnold finds out how he
plans to make it work.
How were you first introduced to Lord Of
The Flies?
I was aware of the book but I saw the film first, the
original 1963 film, and that lead me to the book as a
late teenager.
What was it about the book which
captured you?
It’s such a great story. It has something to say and
will always have something to say. It asks what
[people] would do if left to their own devices. It’s a
simple question and this provides an answer, which
is still as relevant today as it was when the book was
written 60 years ago. That’s why it’s such a good
subject and is constantly studied in schools as well.
It's posing that question which is very intriguing.
Why did you decide to make a show of it?
In one sense I didn’t because the idea of the project
involving the local young men was thought of three
years ago by the Scottish Arts Council. The project
that they wanted to have was a specific idea to
engage with young men in the area who didn’t
have much arts provisions, were not necessarily
interested in art or theatre, or had never been inside
a theatre before. But they wanted a fully professional
production that they could be part of. They came to
me with that idea and Lord Of The Flies was an idea
which came to my head.
I’ve never thought of making it a piece of dance
theatre before but the project is right for it, partially
because of the feral, savage movements of the novel
seem to work with a mix of professional dancers and
young people without the technical background. The
movement lead to the story and the story lead to the
movement.
“On the closing
night they're all in
floods of tears”
Has it been difficult working with both the
professional dancers and the novices?
Yes and no. It’s obviously a challenge. You have to
get them at the level they have to be at in a very
short space of time, and it has to be a professional
production as there is an audiences paying good
money to see it. It can’t all be about giving the boys a
great time. It’s a great company feeling. By the time
the opening night comes the boys are really fired up
to do their best. On the closing night they’re all in
floods of tears because it’s all over. It’s the end of
it that’s part of their lives. They’ve had a wonderful
experience so far.
You started your dance training relatively
late, aged 22: do you think if you had
some sort of this scheme in your younger
years, it would have been beneficial?
Oh, god yes. I would have jumped at it. Would I have
gotten in? I don’t know. But I’ve just loved it and
it would have been good for me because I wasn’t
trained but I loved dance and I loved moving and it
would have been perfect for me.
It’s funny that you said I started at a late age
because in my company there are boys who are
sometimes older than the professionals, who have
only just gotten into dance. Young men in their late
teens or early 20s who have only just found it. It’s
not all about choosing the very young kids. It’s about
men who have just found this new love in their lives,
this new passion.
What is it about your work that people
love?
I think it’s probably because I did start late. H