Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo explained

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male drag ballet troupe that parodies the conventions of romantic and classical ballet. The company's current artistic director is Tory Dobrin.[1]

The dancers portray both male and female roles in a humorous style that combines parodies of ballet, posing, and physical comedy with "straighter" pieces intended to show off the performers' technical skills. Much of the humor is the male dancers performing en travesti in roles usually reserved for females, while wearing tutus and dancing en pointe.

History

Prior to the founding of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, members of Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatre Company formed a company called the Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company in 1972. This company included Larry Ree, Richard Goldberger, Lohr Wilson, Roy Blakey, Peter Anastos, Natch Taylor, and Anthony Bassae. They often performed at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village of Manhattan.

Productions at La MaMa included Sobechenskaya Dances in 1972,[2] multiple productions titled Ekathrina Sobechenskaya Dances with the Troxadero Gloxinia Ballet Company in 1974, and Ekathrina Sobechenskaya Dances with the Original Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company in 1975. They continued to perform at La MaMa in 1976[3] [4] and 1977,[5] then returned in 1982,[6] twice in 1987,[7] [8] and in 1990, with Madame Ekathrina Sobechenskaya's Original Trocadero Gloxinia Ballet.[9]

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was co-founded by Peter Anastos, Natch Taylor, and Anthony Bassae, all of the Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company, in 1974. They initially produced small, late-night shows in off-off-Broadway spaces. The troupe's first show was on September 9, 1974 in a second-story loft on 14th Street in the Meatpacking District.[10] After receiving a favorable review in The New Yorker by Arlene Croce, the company was discovered by a wider audience. The "Trocks" toured the world, with prolonged engagements in many major cities.

In 2008, they performed at the Royal Variety Performance in front of Prince Charles.[11] In 2017, the troupe were profiled in Bobbi Jo Hart's documentary film Rebels on Pointe.[12]

Dancers

[13]

NameBirthplaceJoined the companyFemale roleMale role
Raydel CaceresAugust 2023Blagovesta ZlotmachinskayaMikhail Mudkin
Robert CarterCharleston, South CarolinaNovember 1995Olga SupphozovaYuri Smirnov
Boysie DikobeBrits, South AfricaFebruary 2011Sonia LeftovaAndrei Leftov
Matias Dominguez EscrigSantiago, ChileOctober 2023Gerard TördPavel Törd
Andrea FabbriLugo, ItalyOctober 2023Tatiana YoubetyabootskayaAraf Legupski
Gabriel FoleyJuly 2023Resi OachikatzlschwoafIlya Bobovnikov
Kevin GarciaGran Canaria, SpainAugust 2017Elvira KhababgallinaSergey Legupski
Duane GosaChicago, IllinoisSeptember 2013Helen HighwatersVladimir Legupski
Carlos HopuyHavana, CubaFebruary 2012Alla SnizovaInnokenti Smoktumuchsky
Jack Furlong, Jr.Boston, MassachusettsSeptember 2014Guzella VerbitskayaMikhail Mudkin
Shohei IwahamaKomae-shi, Tokyo, JapanMarch 2022Anya MarxChip Pididouda
Philip Martin-NielsonMiddletown, New YorkSeptember 2012Nadia DoumiafeyvaKravlji Snepek
Felix Molinero del PasoGrenana, SpainOctober 2021Holly Dey-AbroadBruno Backpfeifengesicht
Trent MontgomeryMcGehee, ArkansasAugust 2021Ludmila BeaulemovaJens Witzelsucht
Raffaele MorraFossano, ItalyMay 2001Lariska DumbchenkoPepe Dufka
Sergio NajeraMexico City, MexicoFebruary 2023Bertha Vinayshinsky Irving Verschemelt
Christopher OuelletteSan Francisco, CaliforniaMay 2014Colette AdaeMarat Legupski
Giovanni RaveloBucaramanga, ColombiaOctober 2008Irina KolesterolikovaBoris Mudko
Alejandro Gonzalez RodriguezHolguín, CubaMay 2019Maria ClubfootTino Xirau-Lopez
Salvador Sasot SellartLleida, SpainAugust 2022Grunya ProtazovaMarat Legupski
Jake SpeakmanPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaNovember 2021Colette AdaeTimur Legupski
Joshua ThakeProvidence, Rhode IslandNovember 2011Eugenia RepelskiiJacques d’Aniels
Roberto VegaManatí, Puerto RicoAugust 2017Ludmila BeaulemovaMikhail Mypansarov
Haojun XieXi'an, ChinaAugust 2018Maya ThickenthighyaNicholas Khachafallenjar
Takaomi YoshinoOsaka, JapanAugust 2018Varvara LaptopovaBoris Dumbkopf
Long ZouLiling, ChinaMay 2009; rejoined January 2016Nina EnimenimynimovaKetevan Iosifidi

Notable former dancers

Repertoire

From the classical repertoire

Other works

Solo works

Reviews

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Us . December 10, 2011 . Trockadero.org.
  2. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Sobechenskaya Dances (1972)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  3. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Ekathrina Sobechanskaya + Tamara Karpova with the Original Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Co. (1976a)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  4. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Ekathrina Sobechanskaya + Tamara Karpova with the Original Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Co. (1976b)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  5. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Ekathrina Sobechanskaya + Tamara Karpova with the Original Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Co. (1977)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  6. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Ekathrina Sobechanskaya and the Original Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company (1982)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  7. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Ekathrina Sobechanskaya and Her Original Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company (1987a)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  8. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Ekathrina Sobechanskaya and Her Original Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company (1987b)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  9. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Madame Ekathrina Sobechanskaya's Original Trocadero Gloxinia Ballet (1990)". Accessed August 7, 2018.
  10. Web site: Eugene MacDougal . From the Director . May 4, 2010 . Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo..
  11. News: Sanjoy Roy . February 17, 2009 . Step by Step guide to Dance: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo . Guardian.co.uk . London . May 4, 2010.
  12. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/movies/rebels-on-pointe-review.html "Review: 'Rebels on Pointe,' and in Tutus"
  13. Web site: Macaulay . Alastair . Times . The New York . Dancers . 2024-02-01 . Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo . en-US.

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