Chatting with Sir Matthew Bourne!

In our large office at Bickerstaffe House, you find all sorts out about your colleagues! We discovered that our friend Angela Pymm is the world's biggest Dir Matthew Bourne superfan, and she so jumped (with a plié) at the chance to meet the fabulous choreographer himself! Read about their conversation here!

I’ve been told that you should never meet your idol or hero, as the person in real life will never match up to your expectations.  Meeting the talented, internationally acclaimed choreographer and musical director Sir Matthew Bourne, I had to see if there would be an exception to that rule.

As part of celebrating 30 years since launching his own dance company, Matthew has revisited his earliest works combining Town and Country, the Infernal Gallop and Watch with Mother, which has not been seen for nearly 25 years, as Early Adventures, the show that launched the career of ‘Britain’s Favourite Choreographer’.

These early pieces were chosen as they show the beginning of a style that the Company has created and has developed over the years. Audiences will be in for a rare treat, watching these dance pieces accompanied by music ranging from Edith Piaf, Noel Coward, Perry Granger, Elgar, Bach, Desert Island Discs and the Can Can.

Meeting Matthew at the Grand Theatre this afternoon to talk about the upcoming Early Adventures, which will be showing on 21^st and 22^nd March, he told me that this was his first visit to Blackpool and that it  has always been a place that he wanted to bring his Company to and to meet a new audience.  
Along with a tour of the Grand Theatre, he is looking forward to visiting the Tower and its iconic Ballroom and the Winter Gardens. The Pleasure Beach is also on his list and to go on the Big One, a braver person than me.

On 21^st March, after the performance, Matthew will be giving a free Q and A session, which will be a must for all dance enthusiasts, giving them an opportunity to quiz him on his productions both old and new.

I asked him what his favourite piece from this production was. He said he had two, Dearest Love, set to the music of Noel Coward and the Clog Dance from Town and Country, as he originally performed this himself, despite the scene stealing hedgehog!

The audience will be seeing both established and new dancers to the New Adventures Company and Matthew has enjoyed working with these nine dancers, revisiting his earliest works and the feeling of nostalgia, as he has been working with Etta Murfitt, Associate Artistic Director of New Adventures and performer in the Infernal Gallop and Town and Country in the 90s.

Early Adventures show the range of dance that Matthew has become famous for, humorous and observant interpretations, evoking a range of emotions from laughter to tears from the audience. If you think that dance can only be a classical ballet then you are in for a surprise. I’m hoping that seeing Early Adventures will inspire and uplift the audience and that they will see his other works like the Red Shoes, which is currently touring and Cinderella, which will be at the Sadler’s Wells for its Christmas season, then touring in 2018.

So, was my idol bubble burst?  I’m very pleased to say no, Matthew is as lovely, personable and witty as I thought he would be. I’ll be looking forward to seeing Early Adventures in March and I hope that he enjoys eating his Blackpool Rock.

Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures will be performed at the magnificent Grand Theatre on the 21^st and 22^nd March. For further information and tickets, head on over to the Grand Theatre website, or call the Box Office on 01253 290 190.