10 Fun Facts about Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo – aka The Trocks – the World’s Foremost Drag Comedy Ballet Company back in Nottingham this October

28 Jul 2022

Ballet’s Very Grande Dames are back!

Dance Consortium presents the world’s most fabulous foremost all-male comic ballet company

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Twelve-venue UK tour 6 September to 30 October opens at London’s Peacock Theatre on 6 September with 13 performances

This autumn sees Dance Consortium’s 50th tour of the world’s best international contemporary dance – and its sixth tour of the iconic Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.

Based in New York, The Trocks are loved world-wide for their hilarious homages and sassy spoofs of classical ballet. Their impeccable comic timing is matched by their immaculate technique and daring physicality. Every performance froths with tutus and testosterone, blush-pink ballet shoes, false eyelashes and prima ballerina attitude as the 16 dancers transform into different personas, male and female.

The company was founded in 1974 in the wake of the Stonewall Riots. Early performances were held on the makeshift stage of the West Side Discussion Group, an offshoot of the groundbreaking Mattachine Society, one of the first LGBTQ+ rights groups in the US.

On their latest visit to the UK, The Trocks are bringing three different programmes of beloved classical ballets, modern works and iconic music by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Vivaldi and Massenet.

The first of two programmes at London’s Peacock Theatre begins with the company’s signature work, Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II). Based on the original choreography by Ivanov, this elegiac phantasmagoria of variations and ensembles sweeps audiences into the magical realm of swans (and birds). After the interval, either a classical pas de deux or a modern work is announced from the stage, depending on the company’s mood on the night. Then comes Nightcrawlers, set to Chopin nocturnes and choreographed by founding artistic director Peter Anastos as a sequel to Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet. Yes, Virginia…was a parody of Jerome Robbins’ ‘Dances at a Gathering’ so it was only a matter of time before the Trocks set their sights on ‘In the Night’, Robbins’ other great Chopin ballet. The Bolshoi Ballet-inspired Valpurgeyeva Noch, staged by Elena Kunikova after Leonid Lavrovsky, which Russians have long respected as a specimen of high Soviet balletic camp completes the programme.

The second London programme opens with Les Sylphides as an abstract classical ballet with atmospheric suggestions of ‘Giselle’ and ‘La Sylphide’, staged here by Alexandre Minz. The sentiments aroused spring from the sublime music of Chopin and its evocation of dreams, desire and melancholy. Then the mystery pas de deux (or short modern work) is followed by Vivaldi Suite, an homage to Balanchine. The evening closes with the Spanish-styled Majisimas, a seductive demonstration of the intricate beauty of classical ballet technique, staged by The Trocks’ ballet master Raffaele Morra and danced to music from Jules Massenet’s 1885 opera ‘El Cid’.

After the London run, the company sets off on tour with a third programme. It opens with The Trocks’ signature work Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II) which is followed by a mystery pas de deux or short modern work, announced from the stage on the night. Next up is the company’s celebration of Balanchine, Vivaldi Suite. Finally comes Raymonda’s Wedding, the traditionally confusing divertissements from the final act of ‘Raymonda’. A ballet in three acts and fifteen scenes, ‘Raymonda’ has baffled audiences since its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1898. With choreography after Marius Petipa, The Trocks ignore all the plot intrigues and go straight for the happy ending!

1 The Trocks don’t come from Monte Carlo at all. They’re from New York where they started life in the Meatpacking District as a downtown drag act in 1974

2 Over the years they have performed in 651 cities in more than 41 countries on 130 worldwide tours

3 In 2019 they racked up nearly 62,000 miles on tour. Multiply that by the number of dancers and they could have sent a dancer to the moon and back twice!

4 The company’s 16 dancers come from China, Cuba, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the USA

5 The Trocks head off on tour with 60 costumes, 80 pairs of earrings and 110 sets of false eyelashes

6 It takes each Trock 90 minutes to put on their make-up – and 60 minutes to take it all off again

7 Every dancer has a ballerina and a male danseur alter-ego with their own stage names – look out for Jacques D’Aniels, Holly Dey-Abroad and Minnie Van Driver

8 They have two degrees of separation from Gonzo the Great, Rudolf Nureyev and the Queen. They have danced with Miss Piggy, Kermit and the Russian superstar on TV and met Prince Charles after taking part in the Royal Variety Performance

9 They’ve performed their signature work, The Dying Swan, over 3500 times

10 A night out at The Trocks has been described as ‘one of the most entertaining shows on planet Earth’

Tuesday 6 September – Saturday 17 September

The Peacock Theatre, LONDON

Portugal St, London WC2A 2HT
Tickets: 020 7863 8222 / www.sadlerswells.com/

Tuesday 6 September – Saturday 10 September at 7.30pm

Saturday 10 September at 2.30pm
Programme A: Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II), work to be announced, Nightcrawlers, Valpurgeyeva Noch

Monday 12 September – Saturday 17 September at 7.30pm

Saturday 17 September at 2.30pm

Programme B: Les Sylphides, work to be announced, Vivaldi Suite, Majisimas

Monday 19 & Tuesday 20 September at 7.30pm

The Marlowe Theatre CANTERBURY

The Friars, Canterbury CT1 2AS
Tickets: 01227 787787 / www.marlowetheatre.com
Programme: Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II), work to be announced, Vivaldi Suite, Raymonda’s Wedding

Friday 23 & Saturday 24 September at 7.30pm