New Adventures

For the spin-off novels based on Doctor Who, see Virgin New Adventures.

New Adventures is a British dance company, specialising in contemporary dance. Founded by the choreographer Matthew Bourne in 2002, the company developed from an earlier company Adventures in Motion Pictures, which was later dissolved.

New Adventures

New Adventures is an iconic and ground-breaking British dance-theatre company, famous for telling stories with a unique theatrical twist. For over 30 years Matthew Bourne and New Adventures have delighted, inspired and nurtured people of all ages and backgrounds: audiences, artists and the next generation. We create world class productions and engaging projects, reaching thousands worldwide every year.

Under Matthew Bourne’s inspired leadership, knighted in the 2016 New Years’ Honours List for services to Dance, the Company has won the Manchester Evening News Dance Award four times and been given a Special Theatre Managers Association (UK Theatre) award for its commitment to national touring and audience development. In 2015 Matthew Bourne received a special UK Theatre Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre and in 2015 the Company also won the Outstanding Company Award at the National Dance Awards. In 2017 New Adventures won The Stage International Award in recognition of taking Sleeping Beauty to Asia in 2016, accompanied by an extensive workshop and masterclass programme.

New Adventures has received numerous international awards and 12 Olivier Award nominations, including 6 wins. Over the past 30 years Matthew Bourne has created 11 full-length productions and a triple bill of short works. In 2016 Bourne created his award-winning 11th full-length production The Red Shoes, based on the film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, with music by Bernard Hermann. It quickly became the company’s fastest selling tour in history and won two Olivier Awards as well as five international award nominations for its USA tour. Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures will premiere its 12th full-length production in 2019 with Romeo and Juliet.

This award-winning repertoire has inspired and thrilled over 6 million people worldwide. Perhaps best-known for its now legendary Swan Lake with its corps de ballet of menacing male swans, New Adventures’ intriguing twists on the ballet classics also include Nutcracker!, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Car Man based on the opera Carmen and Highland Fling based on La Sylphide set in contemporary Glasgow. Bourne has also been inspired by film and literature in his innovative productions of Edward Scissorhands, Dorian Gray, Play Without Words and Lord of the Flies, which united professional dancers and young men with no previous dance experience. Early Adventures re-visited some of Bourne’s early works for Adventures in Motion Pictures as part of the Company’s 25th Anniversary celebrations again as part of the Company’s 30th Anniversary celebrations.

New Adventures tours to more UK and international venues and gives more performances each year than any other UK dance company. For over 10 years the Company has been British dance’s biggest export, performing seasons at the world’s most iconic venues including Sydney Opera House, New York City Center, The Kennedy Center and the most prestigious Festivals such as Edinburgh, Ravenna and Chekhov International Festivals. A pioneer in taking dance to wider audiences through the medium of film, most of New Adventures’ productions have been filmed for television broadcast or cinema screenings. The recording of Swan Lake by Sky Arts 3D became the first ballet to be shot in 3D for cinema and DVD release.

Employing over 1,500 dancers, musicians and theatre professionals over the last decade, New Adventures supports the artistic and professional development of artists at all stages of their careers. Investing in the future of dance and theatre, every year New Adventures engages in inclusive projects with thousands of people of all ages and ability, as well as emerging artists across the UK. Projects have also been delivered in Asia and across the USA. In 2014, the national tour of Lord of the Flies visited 13 cities, engaging over 8,000 young people in dance activity, many for the first time, delivering 80 performances and reaching some 75,000 people as audiences. Following the success of the show in the UK the production had its first international premiere at Arts Centre Melbourne, Australia in 2017.

Alongside our productions New Adventures is committed to finding and developing diverse young talent from across the UK and our last annual auditions were attended by over 400 dancers. Since our production of Lord of the Flies we have been continually supporting them on their journey into training and professional work. The company have delivered various initiatives, including Swan School, two week-long intensives designed to prepare dance graduates for auditions. The 2018/19 revival of Swan Lake is the first New Adventures production to feature dancers from the young cast of Lord of the Flies. New Adventures continues to work with universities and conservatoires to support the next generation of artists as well as, Overture, an exceptional professional development opportunity for dance practitioners working in communities across England.

As part of our projects and workshop offering, in 2017/18 we engaged with 4,207 people in 426 workshop sessions. We aim to bring inspiring opportunities to children, young people and communities. Highlights from the past year include two Dancers in Residence performance projects that involved two whole primary schools performing at Sadler’s Wells and Hackney Empire.

Repertoire

• The Car Man
• Cinderella
• Sleeping Beauty
• Dorian Gray
• Highland Fling
• Nutcracker!
• Play Without Words
• Swan Lake
• Edward Scissorhands (stage dance adaption of the film)
• Dorian Gray
• Lord of the Flies
• Early Adventures
• The Red Shoes
• Romeo and Juliet

Associate artists

• Scott Ambler
• Lez Brotherston
• Paule Constable
• Terry Davies
• Etta Murfitt

Awards

• 1996: Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake - Winner of Best New Dance Production (Olivier Awards)
• 2011: Matthew Bourne's Cinderella - Winner of Outstanding Achievement in Dance - THEATRE AWARDS UK 2011 (formally The TMA Awards)
• 2016: Critics' Circle National Dance Award : Stef Stefanou Award for outstanding company^[1]
• 2017: Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty - Winner of the International Award for The Stage Awards 2017
• 2017: Matthew Bourne's production of The Red Shoes - Winner of the Best Entertainment Award (Olivier Awards)
• 2017: Matthew Bourne for ‘The Red Shoes’ nominated for Best Modern Choreography - National Dance Awards 2017
• 2017: Ashley Shaw as Vicky Page in ‘The Red Shoes’ nominated for Outstanding Female Performance (Modern) - National Dance Awards 2017
• 2018: Winner of the Creative Green Pioneer award at the Creative Green Awards presented by Julie's Bicycle

References