Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte-Carlo
Creation: 1974
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte-Carlo were created in 1974 by a group of some of the most brilliant American ballet dancers, who wished to offer the public a fun-filled, entertaining vision of traditional classical ballet in the shape of parody and cross-dressing (drag). The company initially performed in late-night shows in Broadway’s very small off-off venues. The Trocks, as they became affectionately known, rapidly hit the headlines, inspiring rave articles, including one by Arlene Croce in the New Yorker and reviews in the New York Times and the Village Voice, which helped gain artistic success and become highly popular. As early as 1975, the Trocks, combining their irreproachable dance technique and knowledge and their ever-so irresistible humour, whilst demonstrating, to everyone’s amazement, that men could really perform pointework without losing their balance, attracted attention far and wide beyond the New York scene. Articles and adverts in Variety, Oui, The London Daily Telegraph, as well as photos by Richard Avedon in Vogue, proved the popularity of the troupe both nationally and internationally.
The 1975/76 season represented a major turning point for the troupe as they became totally professional. They appointed an expert management team, a full-time dance teacher and a ballet master to supervise the daily rehearsals and the classes and were supported by the National Endowment for The Arts Touring Program. During this same season, the Trocks began their first major tours of the United States and Canada, packing, unpacking and repacking tutus and accessories and ordering giant-sized ballet shoes. Rushing to catch a plane or a bus that had been specially chartered quickly became part and parcel of daily life for the whole troupe!
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte-Carlo never once changed their artistic orientation since the day they were created. They can perform any piece of work from the classical ballet and modern dance repertoire with absolute ease, and strive to adhere to the spirit of the original choreography as well as the myriad of choreographic styles. But as regards parody: they specifically emphasize certain comical aspects of the academic dance and offer the public highly-personalized performances of the great classics. They incorporate and exaggerate the mannerisms, accidents and incongruities of dance which is commonly referred to as “serious”. From “Giselle” to “Le lac des cygnes” (Swan Lake), from “Paquita” to “Don Quichotte”, choreographies created by Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham, George Balanchine and Merce Cunningham, the Trocks dance every single role and never shy away from any step, any difficulty. Their hulky bodies, balancing delicately on the tips of their toes, representing swans, sylphs, elves, water sprites, romantic princesses or angst-ridden Victorian ladies… enhances rather than mocks the spirit of dance and banishes any form of vulgarity for the benefit of irresistible comedy. From neophytes to the most learned connoisseurs, no-one can resist the hilarious extravagancies of these boys in drag who offer us a symphony of irreproachable dance knowledge and technique and overwhelming vaudeville humour.
Source : Maison de la Danse show program
