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.
★★★★☆