New Adventures |

NEW ADVENTURES 2011 HIGHLIGHTS

JANUARY

Completed our triumphant London Season of Cinderella. The most successful production ever staged at Sadlers Wells!

Associate Directors, Etta Murfitt and Scott Ambler celebrate 20 years with the Company. They both started rehearsals for Town and Country in January 1991

Matthew Bourne awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Kingston University

FEBRUARY

Cinderella tour is launched in Stoke on Trent.

Lord Of The Flies starts rehearsals. A unique collaboration between New Adventures, Theatre Royal Glasgow and Creative Scotland. It saw the company create a brand new work based on William Golding's classic, involving New Adventures dancers and 15 local schoolboys, new to dance, getting their first chance to perform in a professional production.

MARCH

World Premiere of Lord Of The Flies at Theatre Royal Glasgow. "it suceeds brilliantly" says the Express, "a raw and shocking piece of dance theatre" The Scotsman hails it "a remarkable achievement"

70th Anniversary of the bombing of the Cafe de Paris, an inspiration for Matthew Bourne's Cinderella, is celebrated at a performance of our productionin Bradford.

Cinderella is nominated for an Olivier award for Best New Dance Production. It is the company's 10th nomination

The 20th Anniversary of Matthew Bourne's first full length production, Town and Country, which will be revived for the first time in 2012

Cinderella opens at the Carre Theatre in Amsterdam

APRIL

Our groundbreaking production of Swan Lake makes history again by becoming the first full length ballet to be filmed in 3D. It is filmed at Sadlers Wells, SKY Arts , and stars Richard Winsor as The Swan, Dominic North as The Prince and Nina Goldman as The Queen.

Cinderella opens in Rotterdam and we play our second season in Liverpool.

MAY

Matthew Bourne and Richard Winsor represent New Adventures at a reception to celebrate young people in the Arts, given by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace. Both Matthew and Richard are honoured to personally meet Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh.

New Adventures holds it's annual auditions. We see over 200 dancers, and manage to find jobs for 4 talented young performers!

Matthew Bourne attends Russian Press Conference, in Moscow, to help launch Cinderella. It will be the Company's 4th trip to the Chekhov International Festival.

New Adventures and Re:Bourne help to create Sum Of Parts, an ambitious community and educational project resulting in spectacular, cast of hundreds, production at Sadlers Wells.

JUNE

Cinderella is a triumph at the Ravenna Festival in Italy. Meastro, Ricardo Muti and his wife Christina, once again, welcome the Company for the third time.

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake 3D is premiered on SKY ARTS 3D

Premiere of Cinderella at The Chekhov International Festival in Moscow. Company gives a record 16 sold out performances. Audiences include Prokofiev's grandson and the new Artistic Director of the Boshoi Ballet, Sergei Fillin.

JULY

Matthew Bourne visits Tchaikovsky's house in Klin, Moscow. The Company are invited to attend a rehearsal at The Bolshoi Theatre.

Cinderella plays its final performance this season in Moscow. It has been our most successful production to date, surprising many of us, and regularly selling out on it's UK tour. It played 204 performances and was seen by over 240,000 people!

Matthew Bourne receives an Honorary Doctorate from Roehampton University

The first New Adventures Choreography Award is launched and applications are considered by a distinguished judging panel.

AUGUST

Matthew Bourne wins two Helpmann Awards for the Australian production of Mary Poppins

The first New Adventures Choreographer Award (NACA) winner is announced. James Cousins is the worthy winner with Tom Jackson Greaves as the runner up. Their work will be seen at the winners showcase performance in September 2012.

SEPTEMBER

The first New Adventures "Summer Adventure" is held at Sadlers Wells. A Summer School with a difference; each year will concentrate on a different theme around Matthew Bourne and New Adventures work. It is open to emerging artists and dancers who wish to learn more about how the company's work is created.

19 year old Liam Mower, London's original Billy Elliott, joins New Adventures, straight from his 3 year training at The Rambert School. Much like Jamie Bell does in the movie, when he becomes the adult, Adam Cooper, in the emotional final scene. Welcome to Liam and our other new company members Merry Holden, Katrina Lyndon and Leon Moran.

A special screening of Swan Lake 3D, at the Vue in Islington, for cast, crew and many friends of New Adventures, including Alistair Spalding and Cameron Mackintosh and previous Swan Lake cast members.

OCTOBER

The 20th Anniversary production of Nutcracker! begins rehearsals at The Jerwood Space

Lez Brotherston, Associate Artist and Tony and Olivier winning designer of most of our productions celebrates his 50th Birthday

25th Anniversary Season announced at Sadlers Wells Press Conference. Next year will see revivals of some of our earliest works, Spitfire, Town and Country and The Infernal Galop, along with 2002's Play Without Words, originally seen at the National Theatre. We also announce a World Premiere for 2012, Matthew Bourne's new production of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty.

Cinderella wins the Theatre Awards UK (formally TMA Awards) for "Outstanding Achievement in Dance"

NOVEMBER

20th Anniversary Nutcracker! tour opens in Bromley and tours to Cardiff, Stoke on Trent and Edinburgh where it receives three 5 star reviews!

"Matthew Bourne - Adventures In Dance" - conversations with Alastair Macaulay - is published. The new 750 page edition features 8 new chapters and covers the company and Matthew Bournes work from 2000 till the present day. A National Theatre platform performance and signing, hosted by Paul Gambaccini, is held to celebrate the book launch.

Rehearsals begin for our Christmas TV Special, commissioned by Channel 4 and directed by Ross MacGibbon. It will feature 13 newly filmed sequences from 10 different productions to help celebrate our 25th Anniversary year.

Michela Meazza, a leading dancer with New Adventures for over 15 years is nominated for a National Dance Award for Best Female Dancer! Congratulations Michela!

DECEMBER

Filming of "Matthew Bourne's Christmas" at the legendary Ealing Studio's (on the oldest sound stage in the world!) It is screened on Christmas day on More4. Swan Lake 3D is also screened for the first time on SKY Arts in 2D.

Nutcracker! begins it's 7 week Christmas Season at Sadlers Wells. It is our 10th consecutive Festive season at our home venue. Celebrities incuding Danny Boyle, Sian Williams (from "Breakfast") and Torvill and Dean help to celebrate it's 20th year!

Matthew Bourne receives the Honorary Companionship from his former college, The Laban Centre (now Trinity Laban).

...... and finally, to all of our friends, thank you for your support throughout 2011 and a very HAPPY NEW ADVENTURES YEAR!