51Âþ»­

For this year’s Cultural eXchanges Festival, we asked some of our Journalism students to write up accounts of several events. Here, Morgana De Sousa Carvalho Ribeiro reports on a talk by Sir Matthew Bourne.

One of British theatre’s most successful directors has given hope to drama students at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) telling them audiences are “desperate to see live work again”. 

Sir Matthew Bourne is one of the country’s most decorated theatre practitioners, having won multiple Tony and Olivier Awards for his work on productions like The Car Man, Play Without Words, The Red Shoes and Mary Poppins, many of which have played at Curve in Leicester. 

He was speaking at this year’s Cultural Exchanges festival, the annual series of talks on the arts and media, organised by 51Âþ»­ (51Âþ»­) students on the Arts and Festivals Management course.

One of the issues he tackled straight on during the talk was the effect the pandemic has had on the country’s arts sector, with theatres closed for months due to national restrictions and many smaller venues having closed for good.

With restrictions beginning to ease and a plan set out by the Government to return audiences to venues, Sir Matthew said there was reason to be hopeful.

He said: “I suppose the challenge will be to get people to come and sit in a theatre quite close together.

“But I also feel like people are desperate to go see live work again. The overriding thing is the gratitude audiences and performers will feel - we will be grateful to be doing what we do and see what we love seeing.

"Remain positive because it (live performances) will come back.  I know you have something to offer and I am curious to see the talent out there."

The director also talked about New Adventures - his dance company – and his enthusiasm for finding young talent, in a discussion hosted by Mel Knott, senior lecturer in community dance practices at 51Âþ»­.

Sir Matthew Bourne’s work is heavily marked by the reinvention of classic ballets, adapting them to different audiences, different casts and to changing times - to progress.

He told the audience that in order to counter those who find the idea of ballet alienating, he worked to bring out the energy and of the music and present, as much as could, “a sense of urgency”.

He talked through how he had approached past productions like Swan Lake, Lord of the Flies and Cinderella, all three of which gave opportunities to younger performers.

He said that with New Adventures, he had a “clear drive to nurture young talent”.

“The company is best run like a family,” he said, describing the way all members helped each other and the focus he placed on welcoming and developing young talent.

“I want to know what they can do, where they can go,” he said. “The talent of the people in the company is what wakes me up in the morning.”