The all-male ballet troupe Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has been bringing a whole new sensibility to an ethereal art-form with a captivating mix of serious dance, slapstick humor and muscular drag, blending their combined talents into a polished performance extravaganza that has been wowing audiences worldwide.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was founded in 1974 by a group of San Francisco ballet aficionados for the purpose of developing and producing a playful, entertaining portrayal of classical ballet in parody form.
With an exhausting schedule that keeps the Trocks on the road up to 40 weeks a year, this unique dance troupe represents the finest in dance, comedy and drag. The troupe has performed in over 500 cities in 33 countries worldwide; the Trocks have graced hundreds of stages around the globe, including Lincoln Center, the Peacock Theatre in London and the Theatre Royal in Sydney, Australia.
I recently caught up with Tory Dobrin, the artistic director of this cultural anomaly, to find out what goes on behind the scenes.
David Guarino: Did Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo actually originate in Monte Carlo?
Tory Dobrin: The company was founded as sort of a play on the old Ballet Rousse Company. Initially it was expected that the troupe would be around for three months or so, not for 30 years. The original ballet troupes were known as Ballet Rousse de Monte Carlo and the like because they were located there.
What has been the reaction in the dance community to the idea of an all-male ballet troupe that uses comedy in its repertoire? Do they take you seriously?
We are a major part of the business; we've been around for 34 years. We've hired 16 dancers; we do a lot of tours. We are a respected company in the dance world.
How were the members of the Trocks selected? What are the special qualifications you look for when considering potential candidates for the troupe?
Number one, you have to be a pretty good dancer. Number two, you must have an engaging sense of humor, and number three, a potential member of the Trocks has to be a team player. We want someone who is really interested in being in a company, and a dancer who has a really good attitude.
Are the Trocks considered a serious dance company despite their irreverent and dramatically comedic flair?
Well, I certainly think that Lucille Ball would have considered herself to be a serious actress even though she was primarily known as a comedian. So just because we engage in comedy doesn't necessarily mean that we are not serious about what we're doing. And for fun.
Are all of the members of the Trocks gay men?
For the most part, yes. We do have women who are technical directors and the like, who are not gay.
When the idea for the Trocks was originally conceived, was the sexuality of the potential members an issue in the selection process?
No. I think that it would probably be illegal to ask somebody what their sexuality was. It certainly wasn't done at the time the Trocks were created. I never ask that question to any potential member of the troupe.
So the group started out as an all-male ballet troupe whose members gradually morphed into an all-gay male dance company?
Well, wouldn't you say that if somebody was going to get into drag, the odds are that they are probably going to turn out to be gay? As opposed to a dancer who will not do drag? We have had some straight dancers in the company, yes. We are known as an all-male comedy ballet company. It's not known as an all-male gay ballet company.
What is one of the funniest things that has ever happened on stage during a performance?
Nothing really comes to mind. It's a comedy group, so it's a bunch of guys who are basically comedians. So the whole evening is filled with spontaneous, though not improvised, comedy. So the guys are pretty lively and free, so lots of stuff happens on stage that wasn't rehearsed.
In considering your role as Artistic Director, what would you consider to be your most formidable challenge?
Keeping a group of guys who tend to be pretty free-spirited and creative in sync as a cohesive group.
Recently a reviewer was quoted as saying, "The Trocks play strictly for laughs." Is this perception a valid observation?
Everybody comes to the theater with their own perception. Perhaps the reviewer you're quoting didn't have a sense of comedy in them, maybe he or she likes everything serious. Maybe this person would never think of watching I Love Lucy on television, they would go right for a soap opera. So it's really hard to judge anything by what someone says, because people will criticize you no matter what happens. We are an all-male comedy ballet company, a dance company. So we have ballet dancers who are also comedians. We take all of those elements of ballet and comedy, and we try to make a very good show. So anyone who comes to the show will see a variety of comedy and they'll see a variety of ballet. We're now doing Swan Lake: Act II, which is pretty campy, and is played a lot for laughs. The dancing is excellent. We close the program with Paquita, which is a satire on High Russian style and classical ballet. In-between each sequence, you can detect the comedy, and you can recognize the excellence in the dance. So that's why we are successful. Don't forget, the troupe started out in the East Village in 1974, and in 30-odd years we've gone from Midnight shows to playing the most successful theaters in the world. We have a lot to offer the audience, and that's why we're still around.