Matthew Bourne's SWAN LAKE Plays Birmingham Hippodrome, Beg. Tonight

Birmingham Hippodrome is delighted to announce that one of the most popular dance productions ever staged, Matthew Bourne'S multi award-winning hit SWAN LAKE, will return to Birmingham Hippodrome from today 5 -Saturday 15 February 2014.

Matthew Bourne's triumphant modern re-interpretation of Swan Lake, which has enjoyed previous sell-out seasons at Birmingham Hippodrome, turned tradition upside down, taking the dance world by storm. Matthew Bourne blends dance, humour and spectacle with extravagant, award-winning designs by Lez Brotherston, to create a provocative and powerful Swan Lake for our times. Now firmly crowned as a modern-day classic, this iconic production, with music by Tchaikovsky, is perhaps best-known for replacing the traditional female corps de ballet with a menacing male ensemble.

Matthew Bourne is widely hailed as the UK's most popular and successful choreographer/director and has been the Artistic Director of New Adventures (formerly Adventures in Motion Pictures) since 1987. During those 26 years Matthew has helped to create new audiences for dance at Birmingham Hippodrome bringing some of his most groundbreaking work to the Hippodrome stage including Nutcracker!, Cinderella, The Car Man, Play Without Words and more recently his acclaimed Gothic take on Sleeping Beauty.

Matthew said "Birmingham Hippodrome continues to be one of the most important dance venues in the country and has some of the best facilities for dancers. I am privileged and thankful to have such a strong relationship with all at Birmingham Hippodrome and the audience who have been so supportive of my work and my Company."

Collecting over 30 interNational Theatre awards including three Tony Awards, Matthew Bourne'S SWAN LAKE has been acclaimed as a landmark achievement on the international stage. It has become the longest running ballet in the West End and Broadway, has enjoyed five successful tours in the UK and thrilled audiences all over the world.

Matthew Bourne'S SWAN LAKE is directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne with set and costume design by Lez Brotherston and Lighting Design by Rick Fisher. It is produced by Broadway Entertainment Group in association with New Adventures.

Tickets for Matthew Bourne'S SWAN LAKE are regarded as some of the hottest tickets in town and patrons are advised to book early to avoid disappointment or join the theatre's Friends scheme to enjoy priority booking. For further information on how to join the scheme go to www.birminghamhippodrome.com/friends

Tickets for Swan Lake go on sale to Friends on 22 July with general on-sale on 29 July. Prices are from £18.50-£42.50 and can be booked onlinewww.birminghamhippodrome.com or by phone on 0844 338 5000. (calls charged from 5p per minute with 5% transaction charge). Performance times Thurs mats 2pm; Sat mats 2.30pm; Eves 7.30pm.