One definition of a classic may simply be a production that doesn't exhaust itself on a couple of viewings. Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake is entering its 15th year, but even now, details like the belligerently priapic tree spirit, terrorising the sylphs in the "Opera House" ballet, can make me laugh as if I'd never seen them before.
A production this richly referential is still not dancer-proof, however. Back in 2006, the role of the Prince was danced with harrowing force by Matthew Hart; this time around, Christopher Marney reverts disappointingly to caricature. Marney has danced with Bourne's company for years and knows the choreo-grapher's style inside-out. Yet however accurately he delivers the material, his interpretation lacks the mystery of personality. When Marney's Prince staggers down to the lake to kill himself, he goes through the motions of misery, but never looks hollowed out by despair.
Richard Winsor, however, has hardly been bettered as the Swan. His pale lunar beauty is ideal for the role, but so too is the muscular heft of his long, strong arms. In Winsor's performance, the poetic logic of Bourne's choreography is vividly revealed, the action of the arms not only dipping and rippling like the wings of a bird, but actually powering the dancing.
As the dark Stranger, Winsor is also good. The quality of corrosive narcissism that he brought to his role in Dorian Gray works to even more corrupting effect here. Lethally manipulative and self-aware, Winsor's character effortlessly disables the moral compass of everyone around him. Even if this season's casting lacks the shiver of tragedy, it carries a chill frisson of evil.
