REVIEW: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo dancers are patriotic in NYC
Photo: Nina Enimenimynimova (Long Zou) performs in Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo’s Stars & Stripes Forever. Photo courtesy of Costas Cacaroukas / Provided by Kornberg PR with permission.
NEW YORK — The dancers in Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo continue to couple their comedic chops with wonderfully realized ballet movements for thoroughly enjoyable performances. The company, consisting of all male dancers, recently finished its holiday run at New York City’s Joyce Theater.
Program A features act II of Swan Lake and The Little Humpbacked Horse, while Program B, the one this reviewer caught, consists of Chopeniana, set to the music of Frederic Chopin, and Stars & Stripes Forever, set to the patriotic music of John Philip Sousa.
The 80-minute program is filled with what audiences have come to expect from the Trocks, their loving nickname. The male dancers play both the traditionally male and female parts, and they look exquisite doing so. The costumes by Mike Gonzales are classically styled and winningly creative, popping off the stage with colors and vibrancy.
Chopeniana starts off like a typical classical ballet with a troupe of dancers ringing the stage and a couple of principals playing out the narrative center stage. It doesn’t take long for Alexandre Minz’s choreography to turn comedic, with more than a few missteps and bad cues. One dancer, Giovanni Ravelo, even falls off the stage and lands in the audience.
Following the opening part of Chopeniana — the company number called Nocturne, Op. 32. No. 2 — solo pieces dominate, and the audience is able to appreciate the full range of the physicality and technique of the individual dancers.
As far as humorous entertainment, the Trocks are brilliant, with a keen sense of timing and a deep understanding of theatricalism. However, these comedic interludes should not take away from the expert skills on display. They hit more of their movements rather than miss them, and they are skilled at being on pointe. Their pas de deux work is especially proficient.
Each of the dancers have silly Russian-inspired names for the characters they play on stage. Ravelo, a highlight for the night, is known as Irina Kolesterolikova (as a ballerina) and Boris Mudko (as a danseur). Other highlights: Elvira Khababgallina, Minnie Van Driver, Sonia Leftova and Varvara Laptopova.
The revival of the Trocks’ Stars & Stripes Forever does not disappoint either. Sousa’s music, much of it recognizable from parades and marches, serves as background for Robert La Fosse’s celebratory staging, which relies heavily on full-company numbers in which everyone is lined up, like a well-orchestrated military exercise.
The culminating sequence is kicked off by a large American flag and sequins falling from the ceiling. It’s a miracle that the effect goes off without a hitch, but that’s the joy of the Trocks: The audience can never tell what will go wrong and what will go right. In between the gut-busting laughter, there is well-deserved applause for near-academic technique and obvious skill.
The Trocks have been going strong since 1974, when the company got its start working the off-off-Broadway scene. Today, they travel the world and delight audiences by poking fun (and simultaneously celebrating) classical ballet. It takes a lot of skill to pull off punchy parody, and the Trocks accomplish the feat with smiles and, luckily, no broken bones.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo recently played a holiday engagement at the Joyce Theater in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets for future performances.
