The Car Man - Matthew Bourne

I first heard of Matthew Bourne when his production of Swan Lake was playing on Broadway in 1999. It drew attention because the swans were all played by men, so the core story was a gay one. A few years later Bourne's production of The Car Man toured the US and came to the Ordway. I went and was enthralled! 

The story of The Car Man is loosely the story of Carmen, but set in the 1960's in a small American town. Bourne leaves the specifics of the story up to the audience to decide for themselves, however the setting is in a garage/car repair shop. The town seems to be down on its luck, summer time, hot, everyone sweaty and a bit on edge... into this setting comes a stranger who is looking for work. The garage is owned by a man and his wife. His sister (as I understand it) also work there in the canteen. It is a hot day, all the women are there waiting for their men who are all getting sweaty working on cars. There is one young guy who is getting picked on and bullied by the other guys. He is interested in the sister...until the new man comes into town. Then everyone seems to be very interested in the new guy. Most of the guys don't want the competition and want him gone. However the wife finds him very interesting...and after the new man helps the young guy from being bullied, he is also very interested in the new man. The new man uses this to his advantage. 

This is all being told through dance with music based on Bizet's Carmen. As in Carmen, there is forbidden love, and murder. It is a fascinating and wonderful story being told. Matthew Bourne's choreography is very based in classical ballet but with modern twists. Not as modern as Twyla Thorp, or Merce Cunningham, but I find there to be elements of Thorp in the movement and choreography. The story is consistently the focus, with the dance doing everything to tell that story, as well as show the internal struggles and feelings of the characters. Bourne's work is a joy to watch, and while this was not his first ballet to be popular, I would recommend it. It gives a clear vision of what his work is about, tells an easy to follow story that is not fantastical in any way (unlike Swan Lake, or Cinderella, or Red Shoes). It has some gorgeous dancers, and yet also has a bit of a thriller aspect to it due to the murder and what follows. Bourne continues to put out new work, and revise old work as well. Take a look at his company New Adventures for the variety of what he has done.