Matthew Bourne Ballets in London

Matthew Bourne is one of the UK’s most acclaimed choreographers. The founder and creative director of New Adventures dance company, Bourne is known for productions that merge classical ballet with contemporary dance, drawing inspiration from classic cinema, musicals and film noir to create innovative, boundary-pushing ballets and exciting dance theatre. Bourne was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours for his services to dance, and is a Tony and Olivier Award winner.  

Want to experience Matthew Bourne ballets? Browse our list of productions currently running in London, along with key past Matthew Bourne shows. If your favourite isn’t running at the moment, just set an alert and we will notify you when it returns! It’s worth bearing in mind that future revivals often have different casts, creative teams and venues from the past productions listed below.

Cinderella

Cinderella premiered in 1997 at the Piccadilly Theatre and is a dark, cinematic reimagining that transplants the classic fairy-tale to wartime London. Featuring Prokofiev’s magnificent score, Bourne’s adaptation draws on the original ballet’s story to follow Cinderella, an impoverished young woman, as she falls for an RAF pilot. Soon, the pair are torn apart by the terror of the German bombing raids. Will they find their way back to one another and have a happy ending? A firm favourite with audiences, the show celebrates its 30th anniversary with a revival in London in December 2026, before embarking on a UK tour. 

Last On: Playing at Sadler’s Wells from December 1 2026 – January 17 2027. 

Swan Lake 

Bourne’s take on Tchaikovsky’s classic is arguably his most famous work. After premiering in 1995 at Sadler’s Wells, it won an Olivier Award, and its subsequent Broadway transfer won three Tony Awards. It holds the record for the longest-running ballet in London’s West End and on Broadway, and has toured internationally across the globe. Bourne’s production draws inspiration from the classical Russian ballet’s original story, about a young prince who falls in love with a swan (who is actually human who has been cursed by a wicked sorcerer), but adds a unique spin with an all-male corps de ballet of masculine, intimidating swans – giving the central relationship a homoerotic frisson. 

Last On: 2025, Sadler’s Wells. 

Nutcracker!

Bourne’s adaptation of the Prokofiev classic premiered in 1992 at the Edinburgh Festival, as part of a double bill with Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, in celebration of both pieces’ centenaries. The show was a critical success and later transferred to Sadler’s Wells, where it was nominated for an Olivier. It retains the original score (with minor cuts), but features a reworked, more adult libretto: the Nutcracker comes to life as a hunky man, and the Sugarplum Fairy (now Princess Sugar) steals him away from Clara, who must hunt down her beau to find a happy ending. Nutcracker! blends ballet, folk dance and mime and features a vibrant, candy-land set.  

Last On: 2022, Sadler’s Wells.

The Car Man

The Car Man is Bourne’s Olivier-nominated reimagining of Carmen. It premiered in 2000 at Theatre Royal Plymouth, before transferring to the Old Vic. Bourne’s dance-theatre take is set in the 1960s, in a fictional Italian American Midwestern community, with the action split between a diner and a garage. Unflinchingly violent, sexually charged and homoerotic, the plot – about the tumultuous love affair between a diner worker and a mechanic – differs significantly from Bizet’s original opera, drawing from the novel and film adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice. Terry Davies’ score, based on Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite, marked Bourne’s first collaboration with a composer to create a complete score.   

Last On: 2026, Sadler’s Wells. 

Edward Scissorhands

Based on Tim Burton’s cult classic 1990 film, this adaptation was developed in collaboration with the film’s screenwriter Caroline Thompson and composer Danny Elfman, with a score by Terry Davies adapted from Elfman’s original work. Bourne’s version retains the plot, about a naive, sheltered man with scissors for hands, who struggles to adjust when he is taken in by a suburban family and must enter society. However, it transplants the action from the late 80s to the 1950s and is performed entirely without dialogue. The show premiered in 2005 at Theatre Royal Plymouth before transferring to Sadler’s Wells, and later Off-Broadway, where it won a Drama Desk award. 

Last On: 2024, Sadler’s Wells. 

Sleeping Beauty

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty premiered at Theatre Royal Plymouth in 2012, later transferring to Sadler’s Wells. Telling the classic story of Aurora, who is cursed into a sleep that can only be broken by true love’s kiss, the show uses Tchaikovsky’s celebrated score, but draws on many different sources of inspiration for the plot. Charles Perrault’s original fairytale is mixed with the Brothers Grimm version, giving it a much darker edge. The ballet spans decades, from the late Edwardian Era to the 1910s, and includes gothic themes, fairies and vampires. Bourne used the different eras to draw inspiration for a variety of movement styles within his choreography.

Last On: 2023, Sadler’s Wells.

The Red Shoes

Like many Matthew Bourne ballets, this show premiered at Theatre Royal Plymouth before transferring to Sadler’s Wells in 2016. The Red Shoes is one of Bourne’s best-known and most beloved works, loosely based on both the 1948 film and the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. A sweeping, cinematic epic, it is set in the 1940s and 50s, with the action spanning London, Monte Carlo and Villefranche-sur-Mer. It tells the story of a ballerina, Victoria, who must choose between her love life and her career, with tragic results. Music by American composer Bernard Herrmann, written for various golden age movies, is re-orchestrated by Bourne’s long-term collaborator Terry Davies.

Last On: 2026, Sadler’s Wells. 

Romeo and Juliet

Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet premiered in 2019 at Leicester Curve before embarking on a UK tour, and featured Prokofiev’s original score, re-orchestrated by Terry Davies. Bourne’s take on Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy brought themes of mental health and teen suicide to the forefront, moving the story of two young lovers from opposing families into a contemporary setting and having the action unfold in an unnamed gender segregated institution, similar to a psychiatric hospital. Uniquely, the production featured a young company of emerging dancers, who were recruited locally at each venue stop on the tour, and performed alongside the professional company.

Last On: 2023, Sadler’s Wells. 

The Midnight Bell

The Midnight Bell, subtitled Intoxicated Tales from Darkest Soho, collects various characters from novelist Patrick Hamilton’s most famous works, including Hangover Square, Sales of Solitude and, of course, The Midnight Bell,  merging their stories into a sultry, 1930s set piece of dance theatre. At The Midnight Bell pub in Soho, London, lonely hearts collide, and downtrodden characters seek connections across the smoky bar. The show premiered in 2021 at the Everyman in Cheltenham, and won two National Dance Awards, before embarking on a UK tour. It features original orchestrations by Bourne’s long-time collaborator, Olivier winner Terry Davies, and a company comprised of many of New Adventures’ finest dancers. 

Last On: 2025, Sadler’s Wells. 

What Are Matthew Bourne’s Most Famous Ballets?

Many Matthew Bourne ballets are critically acclaimed, but Bourne’s most famous work is Swan Lake. With its highly unique, masculine take on the corps de ballet, which features male dancers as the swans, this production offers a very different, masculine perspective on one of the most famous ballets in the world.

The Red Shoes is another of the most famous Matthew Bourne shows, and is highly acclaimed for its sumptuous, sweeping cinematic interpretation of the tragic fairy tale and film, and is particularly popular at Christmas, despite not strictly being a festive show. 

Bourne’s work often turns the traditional expectations of ballet on its head, making his work accessible and perfect for those new to the art form, as well as dedicated dance fans. 

How Often Are Matthew Bourne Ballets Performed in London?

Matthew Bourne’s ballets are frequently revived in London, and often return to Sadler’s Wells, where Bourne is an associate artist.

Check out the currently running or upcoming productions above above or set an alert for future revivals!

Where Can I Find Out More About Works by Matthew Bourne? 

You can learn more about Bourne and his dance company on the New Adventures official website.  Many of Bourne’s most famous works can also be streamed on the New Adventures website, for a fee to rent or buy. 

What Else Can I See If I Like Matthew Bourne Ballets?

Fans of Bourne’s work who also love musicals can check out Oliver! in the West End, which he directed and choreographed. Bourne’s other work on musicals includes directing Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends in 2023 and 2025, and the 2004 and 2020 revivals of Mary Poppins, which Bourne co-choreographed with Stephen Mear. 

Dance fans should seek out work by Akram Khan, another boundary-pushing choreographer who fuses different dance forms, most notably traditional Indian Dance, to disrupt the norms of the art form. Khan’s most famous work is Giselle. 

For a choreographer who inspired Bourne, check out ballets by the highly influential Kenneth MacMillan, such as Visionaries, Sleeping Beauty, and Manon. 

You can also find more upcoming dance productions on our dedicated ballet shows in London page.