YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS 'NUTCRACKER' MATTHEW BOURNE GIVES BELOVED BALLET A WHOLE NEW CONTEXT AND MEANING.

Byline: Vicki Smith Paluch Correspondent

As one of the hottest choreographers in the world today, Matthew Bourne has made his mark on London's West End and Broadway by turning classical ballets into witty theater spectacles that have become modern dance classics in their own right.

Since 1997, Los Angeles theater and dance audiences have flocked to creative adaptations of ``Swan Lake,'' ``Cinderella'' and ``Car Man'' (loosely based on the opera ``Carmen''). But Bourne's particular brand of dance theater started when he toasted that old holiday chestnut ``The Nutcracker'' in 1992 for the centenary of the Tchaikovsky ballet.

``It was our first full-evening work,'' recalls Etta Murfitt, who was one of the six founding members of Bourne's first company, Adventures in Motion Pictures and who is reprising her role as Clara in ``Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!''

Adventures in Motion Pictures expanded the way in which contemporary dance tells stories, and Bourne's current company, New Adventures, continues the legacy with such new works as ``Play Without Words'' (slated this spring at the Ahmanson) and ``Highland Fling.''

``Even though we always sold out, and I knew we were more accessible and entertaining, I never thought we would grow to be a company of 74 dancers. That's unheard of in Great Britain for contemporary dance,'' Murfitt says.

In his ``Nutcracker,'' Bourne uses the beloved Tchaikovsky score to tell the story of the denizens of Dr. Dross' Orphanage - a dark, tiny, cramped institution where dreams of freedom grow, though the wizened branch that poses as a Christmas tree does not.

By juxtaposing the stark, grim Dickens-esque orphanage where children sleep four to a bed against the colorful, lavish, Busby Berkeley-esque Sweetieland of Clara's imagination, Bourne tells a poignant story of innocence with an edge where imagination conquers all.

``In the classical version of ``The Nutcracker,'' it's set at an opulent Victorian party, but by setting it in an orphanage, their fantasy of escaping and changing their lives completely is so much stronger,'' says Murfitt, who joined Bourne's Adventures in Motion Pictures in 1986 when he and five other dancers performed short contemporary dance works across England. ``It's a much better contrast.''

Bourne grew up in London's East End, so when it came time to research the orphanage for set design, he and the company went to a Victorian orphanage he knew of in the neighborhood.

``The sleeping quarters were really tiny, and the schoolroom was minute,'' recalls Murfitt. ``The costumes of the children are what we saw in the photographs. It was really grim.''

To help his protagonist and friends escape, Clara dreams of a shimmering ice-skating wonderland and the candy-coated magical realm of Sweetieland. The delicacies include pink Marshmallows, Allsorts (Cadbury's mixed chocolates) and Gobstoppers (remember Willy Wonka?).

Bourne was unavailable for interviews for the U.S. debut of his ``Nutcracker!'' because he was busy in Birmingham, England, preparing his dancers for the 10th-anniversary performance of his radical ``Swan Lake,'' which won him Olivier and Tony awards.

Bourne has said that his original production of ``Nutcracker'' had a ``great deal of irreverence, eccentricity and youthful charm. In taking another look at it, I don't want to lose that, but I do feel that I have learned a lot about nonverbal storytelling.''

In another interview, Bourne discussed his love of movie musicals and Walt Disney animated films. Much like Disney, Bourne likes to take a familiar tale and reinvent it to suit his own purposes, always creating a strong story line that has tragedy as a main element.

Clara, as in the classical version, is a spunky little girl. However, in Bourne's version she becomes a heroine, much in the same way as the title character in ``Annie.'' Murfitt, who created the role of Clara in 1992, has since infused it with the knowledge that comes from being the mother of a 9-year-old daughter.

``When my Clara makes her first entrance and looks at the audience, I feel I am my daughter, Isabel.''

In this ``Nutcracker,'' Bourne has refashioned the love a little girl could have for a beloved gift into a cliffhanger. While in the classical version Clara and her Nutcracker/Cavalier travel to the Land of Sweets, in Bourne's world the Nutcracker runs off with Sugar, the daughter of the orphanage matron who outdoes Fritz in the spoiled category.

``Sugar is delightfully awful,'' Murfitt says. ``But we all love awful characters. We love to hate those terrible characters. When Sugar goes off with Nutcracker, it's every little girl's nightmare.''

``Bourne's Nutcracker!'' keeps you wondering if Clara is going to lose or finally find happiness with her beloved Nutcracker. It's all great fun mixed with a healthy dollop of pathos and humanity.

``A happy ending is great if something tragic precedes it,'' notes Murfitt.

MATTHEW BOURNE's NUTCRACKER!

Where: Royce Hall, UCLA campus, Westwood.

When: Thursday through Jan. 2, call or check Web for specific show times.

Tickets: $35 to $75. [phone] or www.UCLALive.org.

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(1 -- 2) In ``Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!'' Etta Murfitt's Clara, left, in drab orphanage clothing, envisions a much happier, magical Sweetieland, above.