Choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne to introduce screenings

For Sir Matthew, it feels like an important first step back – even though he admits there is still no end in sight.

Matthew’s Swan Lake is on Saturday, October 3 at 11am followed by a Q&A; The Red Shoes is at 3pm followed by a Q&A; The Car Man is at 6.30pm.

“It is lovely to be able to share these recordings,” he said. “The recordings have become very precious over the last few months, to be able to share with people the work that we have done. I wouldn’t usually go back to them unless I am going to revive a piece, but we have had various events where we have shown them or done Q&As for online or corporate events, and it has helped people be aware of the things they have done. It has reminded them of their work and made people very proud of what they have achieved.”

As for the future, well, who knows: “For me when people are performing in empty theatres, it is quite depressing, but with these films, they were made with a live audience and tried to capture what that live audience atmosphere was. They feel very much in the moment, and of course, you can never fully capture that live moment, but these films are definitely as near as you are going to get.

“I just really feel for my industry and in particular my dancers and crew that I work with regularly. They are all free-lancers. My company is more than 90 per cent free-lancers, and they are all out of work. And they are still out of work, looking for other work they can do, just trying to make a bit of money here and there.

“There is great talent going to waste. I am OK. I am not worried about myself. In some ways, it has been nice to have a bit of a rest. I am not going all over the place all the time. We should have been in China at the moment. I have been there many times. But it is the young dancers that I really feel for. They are missing this great live experience.

“I think this whole thing has made people realise how vulnerable they are. Work was coming along quite steadily, and then you get this. And I think it is making people think twice about whether they can continue in the business. But some of us couldn’t possibly do anything else. I couldn’t. I think if this had all happened 20 or 30 years ago, what else could I possibly have done? And there are lots of people asking those questions.”

As to whether dance will simply have to change, as Sir Matthew says, there can be huge power and impact to a single dancer performing solo to a crowd. It’s not necessarily his style, though.

“Dance is all about contact in all sorts of ways. For me, it is about relationships. That closeness is what it is all about, and that connection with the audience, and I don’t really want to return to it until I can do what I have done before. I do the big shows with big sets and big costumes with big casts for lots of people all watching together. And I don’t want to change that.”

Sir Matthew accepts he will just have to wait: “But now maybe is the time for the young dancers to break through, to be innovative, to come up with new things. People are being inventive, and I really applaud that, just trying to get out there to make some work. But I just don’t think you can make money with socially-distanced performances. It is all more of a gesture at the moment…”