'Not afraid to play to the house, they conspire with us to pay homage to tradition even while giving it a kick in the tutu.'
The Trocks are back… gags honed over half a century +
Gramilano - Apr 22, 2023
Ah, the Trocks are back in Milan. Our paths have crossed so many times… in Milan, London, Paris. How I’ve missed you.
The company was last at the Teatro Arcimboldi in Milan in 2016. There were many new faces this time, though it is wonderful to see that Robert Carter (aka Olga Supphozova) is still with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo after 28 seasons. He makes me giggle just from his fussing-around walk, and I’ve bent double with laughter at his spectacular turn in Paquita.
Paquita wasn’t on the programme this time around, though the Swan Lake evergreen was. Takaomi Yoshino (Varvara Laptopova) made for a spectacular Odette, with an enviable technique and extraordinarily fast and controlled turns with minimum help from her prince… the stylistic jokes with exaggerated positions and Soviet-style attitude, mixed with knowing streetwise gestures, milk every laugh possible after years of fine-tuning. The cygnets, with the rebellious one pulling in the opposite direction and with her head coordination completely off, is a hit, and a sequence where she has her back to the audience was new to me.
New Year, Old Ballets: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo light up New York +
Faye Arthurs / Fjord Review - Jan 3, 2023
After the comfort-food programming of December, January tends to kick off with prestige offerings and new works. So it was unusual that the first dance show I saw in 2023 featured timeworn ballet standards like “The Dying Swan” and “Paquita.” These warhorses were being performed by the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, however, so they were not exactly pablum. And to be fair, I caught the Trocks in the third week of their run at the Joyce Theater; so this was, in part, feel-good holiday programming. But though the Trocks have been affectionately spoofing ballet en travesti since 1974, the jokes still feel fresh. That’s the beauty—and a flaw—of ballet: it really hasn’t changed all that much since the days of the Sun King. The dance world, however, has altered dramatically since the Trocks’ inception. Men have begun to don pointe shoes in mainstream companies and schools, and I wondered if the Trocks’ mockery would read as dated now. But their zany wit is as evergreen as the classics they were satirizing. And though the foundation of their humor is the fact that they are men on pointe, it is not the end of it. They don’t just demonstrate how silly men look in pointe shoes and tutus, they show how silly everyone appears in pointe shoes and tutus. Their thesis is that ballet itself is ridiculous, and they are quite right. But they make their point with love, joy, and dedicated craftsmanship.
At a time when resolutions and rebirth are in the air, the Trocks’ satirical yet loving take on classical ballet was a good reminder that we can and must aim for better, but we cannot escape or deny the past. The art of ballet is inherently flawed, but we can look to the Trocks’ example of acceptance and inventive adaptation. Critical examination combined with humor is one of the most powerful agents of change.
Ham, Eggs and the Holy Grail +
Leigh Witchel / dancelog.nyc - Jan 13, 2023
Way back when at the Ballet Russes, a crowd-pleasing program done again and again was nicknamed “ham and eggs.” Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo returned for its holiday visit to the Joyce, bringing eggs and plenty of ham. The bulk of the program was classics, three out of the four involving swans.
Act 2 of “Swan Lake” is one of the most bulletproof works in The Trocks’ rep. As usual, it was dense with jokes, some perennial, but the dancers also added their own spin.
At its best, what makes the Trocks so beloved is the same thing that makes the best drag an art: when it’s more than just imitation but the Holy Grail of performance: a commentary on the notions and conventions of femininity that becomes possible because it’s conjured from without rather than within. But no matter how many sly in-jokes there are for the connoisseurs, the Trocks perform for plenty of people who wouldn’t know “Swan Lake” from a swan dive.
Triumphant Trocks Flirt, Fall, and Run Rampant at the Joyce +
Elizabeth Zimmer / Chelsea Community News - Dec 22, 2022
When the all-male Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was founded in 1974, being gay could get you into lots of trouble. The Stonewall Riots were still fresh in New Yorkers’ memories; the AIDS crisis, which decimated the original company, lay ahead. The male dancers’ portrayals of ballerinas on pointe were groundbreaking at the time, and enormous fun.
Now, nearly 50 years on, it’s clear that the culture at large is catching up with this revolutionary troupe. Issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion are on every corporate agenda; middle-schoolers are pushing against gender decisions made for them at birth. The Trocks, as they are fondly nicknamed, lead the way, giving every member a dual identity—one male, one female. Many of them even get a triple: When they play swans, they manifest nasty, hissing “birdiness” way more than ballerinas in more conventional troupes. And their fabulousness has bled itself onto the audience: On opening night at the Joyce, a guy sitting in front of me rocked a bright red cocktail dress.
Gay NYC Dad – Joyce review +
Mitchell A. Chaitin, President & Editor-in-Chief / Gay NYC Dad - Dec 21, 2022
The “Trocks” take classical ballet and turn it on its ass! In the classical ballet you are familiar with, men never go on pointe. Here, the Trock men do, all the time. And just to be clear, as easy as they make it look, it is hard as heck, especially for the male body. In fact, many of the classical moves are performed by the Trock men, and they do it to perfection. FYI, that means these guys are working their tushies off all year long. Presenting this art to you, the audience, takes a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, captivating audiences since 1974, returns to The Joyce for another uproarious holiday program in its signature comic style. The beloved troupe of male dancers takes the stage for three weeks of nonstop skilled pointe work and hilarious parodying of classical ballet.
The show was fabulous beyond words. At the same time that these men are recreating some of the world’s most beautiful ballets, they are also adding humor and making fun of some of the components of said ballets. And they do so brilliantly.
Woman Around Town – Playing Around +
Alix Cohen / Woman Around Town - Playing Around - Dec 23, 2022
The world’s foremost, all-male comic ballet company delighting the savvy and novices alike will be in residence at The Joyce Theater December 20 through January 8. Who are they, how did the company happen? Are gallons of borscht required for upkeep?
Rarely does anything as broad as slapstick make its way to the stage though the visibly molting Dying Swan (after being chased by an errant spotlight) comes subtly close. Territorial annoyance, embarrassment after a missed step, collision, or continuance after the corps has moved on is some of the tomfoolery woven into exacting choreography. Storytelling remains sacrosanct. What the Trocks do was thought impossible before them.
Five years after the Stonewall Riots and first gay pride parade, with the community demanding parity and visibility, Les Ballets Trockadero, the all male troupe performing en travesti and en pointe, appeared at a loft in the meatpacking district. Arlene Croce of The New Yorker wrote the company was “dead on target and hilarious…It’s so damned all-seeing that I don’t think anything in ballet can be safe from it for long.” By 1977, the company had been presented on Broadway and national television.
Classical companies today require not only training but certain aesthetics. Few dancers in companies like American Ballet Theatre and The New York Ballet change facial expression. The preposterous Trocks have no such limitations. In this troupe female characters often push the men around. (Dancers get to play both male and female roles.) Expectations are usurped.
Dance review: Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo Festival Theatre, Edinburgh ★★★★ +
Kelly Apter / The Scotsman - Oct 25, 2022
There are some jokes that, even when you know the punchline, have the power to make you laugh every time. This is a feeling that fans of Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo know well. If you’ve ever seen their homage to Act II of Swan Lake, you’ll anticipate all the “accidental” trips and falls, the stomps across the stage in pointe shoes and the raised fists. Yet, it’s still hilarious.
It’s been four years since the New York-based ballet company last visited Scotland and watching them feels like stretching out on a pool-side lounger. In the midst of political madness and financial doom and gloom, this group of talented male dancers offers unmitigated fun and relaxation. You don’t have to work hard at a “Trocks” gig, there’s no need to figure out hidden meanings or subtexts, you just sit back and let the gags, gaffes and gorgeous gowns wash over you.
Theatre Review: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at the Theatre Royal +
Ian C Douglas / Left Lion - Oct 6, 2022
The dance routines are spot on, with the performers’ grace and athleticism a pleasure to watch.
Tonight’s performance includes scenes from the inevitable Swan Lake, the Vivaldi suite and Raymonda’s Wedding. Remember, not one word is spoken on stage. And yet the Trockaderos has the audience in stitches. Some theatregoers are almost rolling in the aisles, helpless with laughter. All done with an arch of the eyebrow, a roll of the eyes, a kick here, a face slap there. Imagine RuPaul’s Drag Race set to classical music and you’re almost there.
The Times UK review — High spirits and pratfalls in gleeful ballet parody ★★★★☆ +
Debra Craine / The Times UK - Sep 8, 2022
Spirits are usually high at the beginning of a long tour. But as the Trocks (Les
Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo) opened their latest visit to the UK — two
months and 12 venues — spirits were off the chart. Perhaps it’s an after-effect of
the pandemic — now everyone just wants to have fun.
Fun was certainly on the agenda at the Peacock, where the enthusiasm of the
audience matched that of the men in the world’s foremost comedy ballet troupe as
they donned tutus, tiaras and toe shoes to deliver their distinctive take on ballet classics.
Channeling the glories and excesses of old Russian ballerinas, the Trocks
are as devoted to the choreography as they are to parodying it en travesti.
In the first of two programmes for London, the Trocks save the best for
last. Valpurgeyeva Noch (Walpurgisnacht), inspired by Leonid Lavrovsky’s 1941
production for the Bolshoi Ballet, harks back to the glory days of Soviet ballet at
its most camp. We are transported to ancient Greek myth to take part in a happy
sexual frolic with everyone, except for a pair of virginal nymphs, intoxicated on
wine and lust.
Giggles and gasps of delight at the funnest show in town: Express UK +
Stefan Kyriazis, Express - Sep 13, 2022
Ballet is a grand and glorious thing – and often rather serious. Not so when the ‘Trocks’ are on
stage, the all-male company sassily spoofing classical and modern dance with impeccably
hilarious aplomb, and resplendent with wonderful drag names from Minnie Van Driver to the
Legupski brothers. The fun starts with their full drag bios in the particularly splendid
programme, revealing which dancer defected three times to the US (and was returned) and who
did not have the talent or intelligence to be good at dancing (and so was accepted immediately
into The Trocks), plus the dreaded uninvited guest artiste.
Guffaws rang out constantly during the recent London run at the Peacock Theatre as they slowly
and deliciously roasted Swan Lake throughout Act 1, sensationally led by Varvara Laptopova
(Takaomi Yoshino) reeling off stunning leaps and turns while mugging merrily to the crowd as
the Queen of the Swans.
Throughout, make sure you watch the faces as much as the footwork and fumbles and you’ll be
amply rewarded. A hilarious pas de trois rinses the time-old comedy of a tiny male dancer with
two towering ballerinas and the spoofed classic Dance of the Cygnets is so much fun you ache to
get up there and join in.
Ballet fun with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo – SeeingDance.com +
David Mead / seeingdance.com - Sep 8, 2022
The boys are back in town! Some of the jokes might be old and we might have seen them a dozen times, but their en travesti brand of ballet humour, poking affectionate, gentle fun at traditions and stereotypes, still makes for an amusing, enjoyable evening, here of works loosely linked by a theme of night-time.
I often think it’s way past time The Dying Swan was put out of its misery once and for all. It’s become a pastiche of itself. And then along comes Olga Supphozova (Robert Carter). As he bourrées beautifully, arms fluttering softly, feathers falling from his tutu as his stunning creature hangs on to the last drops of life, it manages to be simultaneously funny and very sad. No mean feat.
Ballet sometimes takes itself a touch too seriously. Puncturing that, pointing out its absurdities and its ridiculous side every now and again is no bad thing. The Trocks do a great job of doing just that while still showing a deep love for the art form, giving everyone a good time along the way.
Belly laughs with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo – Financial Times ★★★★☆ +
Louise Levene, Financial Times - Sep 8, 2022
Are we having fun yet? To judge from my inbox, half the shows in production are hoping to explore domestic violence, BLM, climate change and the cost of living crisis via the expressive medium of dance. Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, who began their two-month UK tour with a two-week residency at the Peacock Theatre on Tuesday, have a far more serious, far more challenging agenda: pleasure.
Both London programmes are a tried and tested mix of old favourites and novelties crafted with the Trocks’ unique blend of balletomania and belly laughs. The first mixed bill opens with Swan Lake act two led by Takaomi Yoshino in the guise of Varvara Laptopova (“awarded first prize at the Pan-Siberian Festival for artistic misinterpretation”) making her British debut.
Trocks ballerinas have consistently amazed audiences with the strength and quality of their pointework since their first teetering pas de bourrée off-off Broadway in 1974, but in the 35 years I have been watching them I’ve seldom seen an Odette as technically assured as the Vaganova-trained Yoshino: feathery beaten steps, freeze-frame balances and funny.
Robert Carter (aka Olga Supphozova) has been delivering the same jokes for 27 years but I still laugh out loud. His arthritic, applause-hungry Dying Swan was a triumph of physical comedy, his entire body seeming to change size and shape at will.
The Nureyev gala, only a few blocks away in Drury Lane, showcases the many aspects of male classical dancing — flashy, refined, introspective — and the preening powerplay between tights and tutu. The Trocks play exactly the same game — but they play it for laughs.
★★★★☆