Swan Lake
- Object:
Poster
- Place of origin:
United Kingdom (Designed and printed)
- Date:
1996 (Designed and printed)
- Artist/Maker:
Dewynters Ltd (Advertising Agency)
- Credit Line:
Given by Adventures in Motion Pictures Ltd.
- Museum number:
E.284-1998
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F, case EXP
This poster advertises a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, which was choreographed by Matthew Bourne and awarded the 1996 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production. Bourne's choreography was considered ground-breaking as it introduced an all-male cast. Male dancers in feathered knickerbockers were substituted for the traditional swans: tutu-attired ballerinas. With this shift in gender, came a new focus on the themes of repression and loneliness, two aspects that are carried through in the poster, which depicts a man cradling a swan under the ominous, watchful gaze of an anonymous male figure.
