Jo Turbitt gives her thoughts and insights on the current UK tour.
Wow, what a night! An explosion of virtuoso dance topped off with a sumptuous dollop of comedy. An evening with Les Ballet Trockadero will leave you feeling overjoyed and extremely...dancey!
The company of purely male dancers started back in the late 60's in NYC when there was an explosion of drag theatre. In 1974, 3 guys who just wanted to perform found their pointe in the midnight shows of lower Manhattan; from here they grew and found themselves a few years later on the stage of the Bolshoi in Russia. That alone is an example of how wonderful they are: a company of male dancers that play both the female and male roles in classical ballets.
This throws up a lot of inevitable questions which raced through my pondering mind as I absorbed the wonder of a male dancer en pointe performing multiple pirouettes finishing in a beautiful arabesque, wearing a tutu. The biggest question: is Les Ballet Trockadero consciously questioning the roles of males and female in classical ballet? In short: no, they are not. Tory Dobrin, the company’s artistic director, is very clear in that they are not trying to say that guys can do what girls can in ballet; he elaborates on this, commenting that while females in ballet approach movement with finesse, Les Trocks ballerinas approach with attack; an attack which still contains a lot of finesse in its execution none the less. Dancers are chosen for their dance ability, for the ability to work in a team...and their humour.
Dobrin describes the company as a Comedy Ballet Company—a perfectly put description. Throughout the evening we are treated to the delights of incredible technique and laugh out loud comedy which often heralds back to that of the Two Ronnies. It's subtle but incredibly satisfying to watch a corp of ballerinas perform in unison knowing that one of them is going to inject their personality with an over-exaggerated movement, with a wink or with a reaction which would never be found in a ballet by any other company.
It is due to the fact that few dancers in the corp do this that the comedy is very very funny and subtle, feeling fresh and new despite the fact that they perform 125 times a year! These subtleties of humour grow into incredible moments of hilarious idiosyncratic ballet; it takes the right mix of flawless technique alongside superb comic timing to stun the audience, and more importantly make the audience feel at home and comfortable enough to laugh at what is happening on stage. This left me thinking: does the dance world take itself too seriously?
The programme for the evening kick starts with the company’s excellent rendition of Swan Lake, telling the story with wonderful cliches but also exploring a lot of "wouldn't it be funny if..." moments from the classic choreography (for example the pas de quatre--my favourite to date!). The middle section of the program consists of a pas de deux...perfection! This is followed by a wonderful take on classic Balanchine choreography 'Go for Barocco'.
The detail of the humour here was amazing. Constant thoughts of "now that's clever....Ha! He does that in his choreography!!!....Wow" were amalgamating in my head as I watched the 6 ballerinas find comedy in contemporary ballet. The cherry on the cake was the performance of the 'Dying Swan', complete with moulting tutu and a physical sense of humour throughout the choreography depicting a swan who was definitely on her last legs. The final piece 'Raymonda's Wedding' was a wonderful way to finish off an amazing, entertaining evening. All pieces had a gorgeous texture and flavour; it was like watching a physical representation of the food of Heston Blumenthal. You know it's going to be executed to perfection but with an exciting twist/ flavour thrown in for kicks.
I loved it. Go see!
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