Lord of the Flies @ Theatre Royal, 2-5 Mar

Matthew Bourne made his name with his all male version of Swan Lake, a bold re-imagining of the ballet classic that cut through sentimentality to create a forceful, vigorous choreography that married balletic technique to contemporary energy. Arriving in Glasgow for Lord of the Flies, Bourne and co-director Scott Ambler have used the famously violent story to engage local young men in professional dance theatre.

"Part of the remit was to cast the net really wide," Ambler explains. The project, supported by Creative Scotland and the Ambassadors theatres, offered "a programme of workshops for 150 lads, over a quite a few months, until we got the 15 who who are going to take part in the performances."

These fifteen will be alongside professional dancers, telling the familiar story of boys devolving to primitive savagery, in a production that has the hallmarks of Bourne's narrative driven and multi-media choreography. "We wanted to aim the work at lads," Ambler continues. "We kept coming back to Lord of the Flies: it has interesting characters and the dancing is quite tribal, not the pretty ballet type." The music by Terry Davies, in keeping with the theme is "thumping and heavy," Ambler adds.

Bourne's previous choreography, from Play Without Words through to The Car Man has hit the sweet spot between popular and experimental, introducing a generation to the idea that dance isn't necessarily all about elegance and tradition. Lord of the Flies, equal parts X-Factor opportunity for local young men, dramatic story-telling, utterly modern movement and social inclusion project is an extension to Bourne and Ambler's unique trajectory.