Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

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The troupe performs with Shirley MacLaine (center) on her 1977 television special "Where Do We Go From Here?" Shirley MacLaine Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo 1977.JPG
The troupe performs with Shirley MacLaine (center) on her 1977 television special "Where Do We Go From Here?"

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]

Contents

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 Caceres Pinar del Río, Cuba August 2023Blagovesta ZlotmachinskayaMikhail Mudkin
Robert Carter Charleston, South Carolina November 1995Olga SupphozovaYuri Smirnov
Ugo Cirri Lausanne, Switzerland May 2019Minnie Van DriverWilliam Vanilla
Boysie Dikobe Brits, South Africa February 2011Sonia LeftovaAndrei Leftov
Matias Dominguez Escrig Santiago, Chile October 2023Gerard TördPavel Törd
Andrea Fabbri Lugo, Italy October 2023Tatiana YoubetyabootskayaAraf Legupski
Gabriel Foley Overland Park, Kansas July 2023Resi OachikatzlschwoafIlya Bobovnikov
Kevin Garcia Gran Canaria, Spain August 2017Elvira KhababgallinaSergey Legupski
Duane Gosa Chicago, Illinois September 2013Helen HighwatersVladimir Legupski
Carlos Hopuy Havana, Cuba February 2012Alla SnizovaInnokenti Smoktumuchsky
Jack Furlong, Jr. Boston, Massachusetts September 2014Guzella VerbitskayaMikhail Mudkin
Shohei Iwahama Komae-shi, Tokyo, Japan March 2022Anya MarxChip Pididouda
Philip Martin-Nielson Middletown, New York September 2012Nadia DoumiafeyvaKravlji Snepek
Felix Molinero del Paso Grenana, Spain October 2021Holly Dey-AbroadBruno Backpfeifengesicht
Trent Montgomery McGehee, Arkansas August 2021Ludmila BeaulemovaJens Witzelsucht
Raffaele Morra Fossano, Italy May 2001Lariska DumbchenkoPepe Dufka
Sergio Najera Mexico City, Mexico February 2023Bertha VinayshinskyIrving Verschemelt
Christopher Ouellette San Francisco, California May 2014Colette AdaeMarat Legupski
Giovanni Ravelo Bucaramanga, Colombia October 2008Irina KolesterolikovaBoris Mudko
Alejandro Gonzalez Rodriguez Holguín, Cuba May 2019Maria ClubfootTino Xirau-Lopez
Salvador Sasot Sellart Lleida, Spain August 2022Grunya ProtazovaMarat Legupski
Jake Speakman Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 2021Colette AdaeTimur Legupski
Joshua Thake Providence, Rhode Island November 2011Eugenia RepelskiiJacques d’Aniels
Roberto Vega Manatí, Puerto Rico August 2017Ludmila BeaulemovaMikhail Mypansarov
Haojun Xie Xi'an, China August 2018Maya ThickenthighyaNicholas Khachafallenjar
Takaomi Yoshino Osaka, Japan August 2018Varvara LaptopovaBoris Dumbkopf
Long Zou Liling, China May 2009; rejoined January 2016Nina EnimenimynimovaKetevan Iosifidi

Notable former dancers

Repertoire

From the classical repertoire

Other works

Solo works

References

  1. "About Us". Trockadero.org. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  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. Eugene MacDougal. "From the Director". Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Archived from the original on October 3, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  11. Sanjoy Roy (February 17, 2009). "Step by Step guide to Dance: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  12. "Review: 'Rebels on Pointe,' and in Tutus". The New York Times , November 15, 2017.
  13. Macaulay, Alastair; Times, The New York. "Dancers". Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Retrieved 2024-02-01.

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