"I’d taken it just so far in Swan Lake, but I thought: why are we beating around the bush? Can I take it a little bit further and actually show different kinds of relationships between men [in Dorian Gray], without it being uncomfortable for the audience? I wanted to show that male dancing can be lyrical and touching as well as macho. Everyone loves saying, ‘Oh, dancers are like athletes, they’re like footballers’ — as if that makes it okay. But they’re not all like that. But I don’t feel the need to keep pushing it now, so I’m happy to do Sleeping Beauty with a female lead...”
Cracking interview with the smashing Matthew Bourne by the cracking Lynn Barber - uncharacteristically gushing with nothing but praise -
in The Sunday Times.
Though there's a recurring riff about gay men and youth - a constant obsession of straight people.
Asked whether ballet dancers pad out their packets, Matthew laughs and replies; "To be honest, I think a lot of the history of ballet has been about that. Seeing beautiful bodies is a big attraction that nobody ever talks about.”
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