DEFINITELY NOT YOUR MOTHER'S `SWAN LAKE'.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

WITH MATTHEW Bourne, it only takes a glance at the past to get seriously jazzed about the future. In the lobby of the Ahmanson Theatre - home of Bourne's ``Swan Lake'' through March 19 - is a poster for ``Edward Scissorhands,'' the newest work by one of England's most arresting director/choreographers. It holds the rather tantalizing promise, ``Coming to the Ahmanson, December 2006.''

Now as nifty as the anticipation may be to some, the end of the year is quite a long way off. Therefore, Bourne fans - and the uninitiated - must content themselves with the now iconic ``Swan Lake,'' which returns to the Ahmanson in its 10th anniversary tour.

Talk about a work of art that refuses to show even the slightest hint of age. Who out there remembers the late 1990s, when those scary/sexy male swans first took roost at the Ahmanson in the piece's U.S. debut? That's right. Center Theatre Group audiences were among the first to experience Bourne in this country. Three productions later - with a little ``Nutcracker!'' on the side at UCLA, and ``Scissorhands'' on the way - the partnership continues.

And flourishes. In ``Swan Lake,'' the music may be Tchaikovsky's, but it's Bourne's name above the title. The tour's restaging is actually courtesy of New Adventures company members - and frequent Bourne dancers - Etta Murfitt, Vicky Evans and Scott Ambler.

It should feel familiar. The Prince is still a craving, delirious bundle of neuroses in lust with the freedom a wild bird represents. His mum, the Queen, is still a bit of a tramp. His girlfriend remains an endearing - but potentially treacherous - rube.

The swans? Still every bit a barechested flock of malevolent sexual energy, as capable of leaving a little blood on the stage as they are of dropping feathers. In fact, with those fuzzy-bottomed tutus (and how exactly do they stay on?) and their intense aggressiveness, Bourne's swans are more suggestive of satyrs than of anything from the avian kingdom.

Nor is there any ``bird'' more dangerously virile than the lead swan, played here by Alan Vincent (who doubles the role with Jose Tirado). Vincent is a large man who dwarfs the much slighter Prince (Simon Wakefield) and the Queen (Oxana Panchenko), both characters whom the Swan/stranger seduces. The steamy, diffident stranger who crashes the party and floors every person - male or female - is becoming a bit of an archetype in Bourne land. Vincent was every bit as seductive in Bourne's 2001 ``Carmen'' rework, ``The Car Man.''

The second-act dream dance between Prince, Swan and flock is a stunner, with Vincent cajoling, Wakefield self-liberating and the ensemble swans providing a bewitching accompaniment. Little surprise that a lengthy intermission follows, since the two male leads have to immediately crank it back up at the royal ball in Act 3.

Bourne's sense of humor and contemporary subversiveness are continuously on display, from the arrivals line at the ball (scenic and costume designer Lez Brotherston does masterful work) to the ballet-within-a-ballet taken in by the Prince, Queen and Girlfriend. It's a delicious scene, with Bourne both sending up every aspect of traditional ballet and affording the marvelous Leigh Daniels the opportunity to demonstrate what a terrific twit this girlfriend is (she takes a cell-phone call in the middle of the performance; nice touch).

Heaven only knows what ballet purists must now make of Matthew Bourne. His style of performance is always cheeky, quite stylized and often highly erotic. ``Edward Scissorhands'' - and what a holiday gift to L.A. audiences that will be! - figures to be a highly interesting match to the director's sensibility. Until then, vive les swans! But handle them with care!

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

MATTHEW BOURNE'S SWAN LAKE - Three and one half stars

Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; through March 19.

Tickets: $30 to $85. [phone].

In a nutshell: The piece that put Matthew Bourne on the international map is back.

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``Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake'' will be at the Ahmanson Theatre through March 19.