“Probably the world’s most successful choreographer” - THE NEW YORKER Matthew Bourne is widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful Choreographer/ Director. He is the creator of the world’s longest running ballet production, a five - time Olivier Award winner, and the only British director to have won the Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical. Matthew started training to be a dancer at the comparatively late age of 22. He studied Dance Theatre and Choreography at The Laban Centre graduating in 1985 but spending a further year with the college’s performance company Transitions. Matthew danced professionally for 14 years creating many roles in his own work. In 1999 he gave his final performance playing The Private Secretary in the Broadway production of Swan Lake.

Matthew Bourne was the Artistic Director of his first company, Adventures in Motion Pictures, from 1987 until 2002 and in 2002 launch his new company, New Adventures.
His best know productions include Nutcracker!, Highland Fling, Swan Lake, The Car Man and Play Without Words. Matthew Bourne is a Resident Artist at Sadlers Wells Theatre and has also created choreography for several major revivals of classic musicals including Cameron Mackintosh’s productions of Oliver!, My Fair Lady and the hit West End musical Mary Poppins for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer. His production of Swan Lake is featured in Stephen Daldry’s hit film Billy Elliot.

Matthew Bourne has twice been nominated as Best Director at the Olivier Awards and his achievements in choreography have been recognized with over 30 international awards including The Evening Standard Award, South Bank Show Award, Time Out Award and the Astaire Award for Dance on Broadway. In the 2001 New Years Honours, Matthew was awarded an OBE for Services to Dance and in 2003 he was the recipient of the prestigious Hamburg Shakespeare Prize for the Arts.

His latest production for New Adventures, Dorian Gray, received its World Premiere at The 2008 Edinburgh International Festival, and became the most successful dance production in the Festivals 62 year history. He has recently Co-Directed and Choreographed Cameron Mackintosh's new production of Oliver! starring Rowan Atkinson at Theatre Royal Drury Lane and his production of Swan Lake has once again returned to Sadlers Wells for the 2009 Christmas season to be followed by a UK and International tour.

For information about the forthcoming Swan Lake tour go to www.new-adventures.net/swan_lake
 
New Adventures education arm, re:bourne works with young people and the adults who work with them, in any setting, offering workshops around the company's repertoire or Matthew Bourne's creative process, residencies and training. Go to www.new-adventures.net/pages/rebourne for more information.

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