Matthew Bourne, "arguably the most successful choreographer in the world," stated the time-honored London Evening Standard newspaper, has become known for his innovative approach to the business.

In September 2014, Shanghai audiences were enthralled by his all-male ballet Swan Lake, which infused a surprisingly masculine energy to the classic dance that is usually feminine and gentle.

This year, Bourne is returning to the city with another signature work, a gothic ballet rendition of the well-known fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. It also marks the last of his Tchaikovsky trilogy, which includes Nutcracker!, produced in 1992, and Swan Lake from 1995.



The show will be staged at Shanghai Culture Square from August 16 to 28.

Unlike the original story, Bourne's Sleeping Beauty starts in 1890, the year when the namesake ballet with Tchaikovsky's composition debuted in Russia, and continues to the 21st century as the princess sleeps for a hundred years until a prince wakes her up through a kiss.

The original story used to be a sweet fairy tale, with the princess Aurora's destiny being influenced by eight female fairies, including an evil one who casts a curse on Aurora.

However, under the direction of Bourne, this production introduces pop culture's vampires, prevalent in recent years on-screen through works such as Twilight and True Blood. The evil fairy here becomes an undead bloodsucker.

The original prince who kisses and saves Aurora is now a royal gamekeeper. He falls in love with Aurora before she is cursed to enter her 100-year coma and is held in captivity by the vampire.

In order to save Aurora, the gamekeeper asks another vampire to bite him so that he can live for a hundred years to break the curse.

Bourne told the London Evening Standard that he had resisted the fairy tale before, but with his long-time collaborator and designer Lez Brotherston, he finally found a way to create "a convincing time-travel love story."

The Independent lauded Brotherston's work, saying that his designs "are full of gorgeous fantasy: a birch forest lit with oil lamps, fairies in distressed fin-de-siècle frocks."

This rendition of Sleeping Beauty debuted in 2012 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, and since then it has been performed for more than 300 times worldwide.

The Guardian newspaper's review wrote that "this is an exhilarating, entertaining production - and one clearly destined to become a classic of the genre Bourne has made his own."

With its intriguing story line, Bourne, a multiple winner of Olivier Awards and Tony Awards for best choreography and best direction, also prepares for the audience a feast of different dance styles from the 20th century.

"It feels a bit like a ballet at the beginning, then you get the whole Edwardian thing and ragtime, then the modern stuff creeps in gradually," Bourne told the whatsonstage.com.

Scenes from Sleeping Beauty Photos: Courtesy of Johan Persson

Meanwhile, the show also offers a handful of relevant humorous materials for a contemporary audience.

In March, Shanghai Culture Square held a screening of Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, which prompted constant laughter thanks to Bourne's grasp of modern people's daily knacks, for instance, taking selfies.

The music for the show is all from Tchaikovsky's original compositions, which will add another layer for the audience to appreciate.

Besides Sleeping Beauty, Shanghai Culture Square also highlights three other grand shows this year.

Blue Man Group - a world-popular party that combines comedy, theater, rock concert and dance in their performance, and which has met with 35 million audience members in 15 countries around the world since 1991 - will visit Shanghai for the first time during its 2016 world tour from November 16 to December 4.

Following is the classical German-language musical MOZART!, produced by Austrian company Vereinigte Bühnen Wien who also created the world-famous German musical Elisabeth, to be shown from December 13 to January 15.

Meanwhile, the venue is collaborating with Shanghai Conservatory of Music to make a bilingual version of Tony Awards-winning musical Spring Awakening, which narrates a story of teenagers discovering the tumult of sexuality and will be staged from September 23 to 25.

Tickets for the four shows vary in price. For Sleeping Beauty, it's available from 80 yuan ($12.36) to 780 yuan from August 16 to 19, 80 yuan to 850 yuan from August 20 to 25, and 80 yuan to 880 yuan from August 26 to 28. Call 6472-9000 to book tickets.

Global Times