Last seen in the UK in 2015, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the multi-award winning all-male, comedy ballet company, will return to the UK and receive its Ireland premiere in 2018 during an eight-week, twelve-venue tour beginning at The Peacock, London on 11 September and concluding at Grand Opera House, Belfast on 3 November.
For more than 40 years, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (affectionately known as “The Trocks”) have been delighting audiences of all ages at sell-out performances featuring their fabulous sense of fun and their flawless dance.
Hailing from New York City, the Trocks are now loved worldwide for their sassy spoofs and hilarious homages to classical ballet and modern dance, where each of the 18 dancers transform into two personas, both male and female.
Every performance frivolously froths with tutus and testosterone, blush-pink ballet pumps, fierce fake eyelashes and hyperbolic prima ballerina attitudes; however, what makes this company extraordinarily special is their immaculate dance technique and daring physicality, surpassed only by their unmatchable comic timing.
During their incredible history, The Trocks have performed in over 600 cities in 38 countries. Following their last UK tour in 2015, The Trocks were nominated for an Outstanding Company Award at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards (2016, UK) alongside Bolshoi Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. The 2018 engagement marks the company’s fifteenth visit to the UK and the first time in Ireland and follows extensive tours across the USA, Japan and Europe. The Trocks’ phenomenon moved from stage to screen in Rebels on Pointe, the first-ever feature documentary celebrating the world famous company. Directed by Bobbi Jo Hart, the film is a glorious and insightful glimpse behind the scenes and received critical acclaim and won numerous awards following its release in 2017.
The Trocks, including dancers Carlos Hopuy (an alumnus of Cuba’s renowned National Ballet School and four times Gold Medal winner at international ballet competitions in Cuba and Japan), Long Zou an alumnus of Central Ballet School and former dancer with Singapore Dance Theatre, and Chase Johnsey, winner of the Best Male Dancer accolade at the UK’s Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards in 2016, all turn perceptions of what being a ballerina means on their heads.
During the UK and Ireland tour, The Trocks will perform signature pieces from ballet classics including Esmerelda, Paquita, Raymonda’s Wedding, Swan Lake Act II, Les Sylphides and La Trovatiara.
The lively Pas de Six from August Bournonville’s Napoli receives its Trocks’ UK PREMIERE and will delight with the intricate footwork, crystalline clarity and lightness of movement synonymous with the 19th Century Danish choreographer. The Little Humpback Horse proved an instant hit with the audiences of Imperial Russia and in the company’s version dancers swimmingly (and hopefully without drowning!) deliver divertissements from the ballet’s underwater scene. Two exciting all-time favourites added to the Trocks’ repertoire, of impeccable attention to their classicism and a riotous sense of humour that will charm audiences in 2018.
The UK & Ireland Tour 2018 programme, which is subject to alteration, will include the following:
LONDON:
11 – 16 Sept: Swan Lake Act II; La Trovatiara; The Little Humpback Horse
18 – 22 Sept: Les Sylphides; Napoli; Raymonda’s Wedding
ALL OTHER TOUR VENUES:
Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita
OR
Swan Lake Act II; Esmeralda; Paquita
LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO – UK and IRELAND Tour 2018 #TrocksUK
Sadler’s Wells’ The Peacock LONDON, Portugal St, London WC2A 2HT (ON SALE 26 FEBRUARY 2018)
11 – 15 September at 7.30pm, plus matinee 16 September at 2.30pm
(Swan Lake Act II; La Trovatiara; The Little Humpback Horse)
18 – 22 September at 7.30pm, plus matinee 22 September at 2.30pm
(Les Sylphides; Napoli; Raymonda’s Wedding)
Tickets: 020 7863 8222 www.peacocktheatre.com
Mayflower Theatre Southampton
(Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita)
28 & 29 September at 7.30pm
Tickets: 02380 711811 www.mayflower.org.uk
Theatre Royal Newcastle (ON SALE MARCH 2018)
(Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita)
2 & 3 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 08448 11 21 21 www.theatreroyal.co.uk
Hull New Theatre HULL
(Swan Lake Act II; Esmeralda; Paquita)
5 & 6 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 01482 300306 www.hulltheatres.co.uk
Bord Gáis Energy Theatre DUBLIN (ON SALE SOON)
(Swan Lake Act II; Esmeralda; Paquita)
9 & 10 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 0818 719 377 (Ticketmaster) www.bordgaisenergytheatre.ie
Buxton Opera House BUXTON
(Swan Lake Act II; Esmeralda; Paquita)
12 & 13 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 01298 72190 www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk
Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff (ON SALE SOON)
(Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita)
16 & 17 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 029 2063 6464 www.wmc.org.uk
The Marlowe Theatre Canterbury
(Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita)
19 & 20 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 01227 787787 www.marlowetheatre.com
Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
(Swan Lake Act II; Esmeralda; Paquita)
23 & 24 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 0115 989 5555
www.trch.co.uk
Eden Court Theatre Inverness
(Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita)
26 & 27 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 01463 234234
www.eden-court.co.uk
Festival Theatre Edinburgh (ON GENERAL SALE 4 JANUARY 2017)
(Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita)
30 & 31 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: 0131 529 6000 www.edtheatres.com
Grand Opera House BELFAST
(Les Sylphides; La Trovatiara; Paquita)
2 & 3 November at 7.30pm
Tickets: 028 9024 1919 www.goh.co.uk
Photograph credit: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo in Paquita. Photography Sascha Vaughan
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was founded in 1974 by a group of ballet enthusiasts for the purpose of presenting a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet in parody form and en travesti. The Trocks, as they are affectionately known, first performed in the late-late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts, and by mid-1975, their loving knowledge of dance, their comic approach, and their commitment to the notion that men can, indeed, dance en pointe without falling flat on their faces, was already garnering attention beyond the Company’s New York home.
Since those beginnings, the Trocks have established themselves as a major dance phenomenon throughout the world – their frenzied annual schedule has included appearances in over 600 cities in 38 countries worldwide since its founding, as well as television appearances and a 2017 feature documentary, Rebels on Pointe.
Over the years, The Trocks have garnered numerous awards, including: Best Classical Repertoire at the prestigious Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards (UK, 2007); a Theatrical Managers’ Association Award, now UK Theatre Awards, (UK, 2006) for Achievement in Dance; the Positano Award (Italy, 2006) for Excellence in Dance; and following their last UK tour in 2015, The Trocks were nominated for an Outstanding Company Award at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards (2016, UK) alongside Bolshoi Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet.
The original concept of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has not changed. It is a company of professional male dancers performing the full range of the classical ballet and modern dance repertoire. The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents, and underlying incongruities of serious dance. For the future, there are plans for new works; new cities, states and countries to perform in; and for the continuation of the Trocks’ original purpose: to bring the pleasure of dance to the widest possible audience. They will, as they have done for more than forty-four years, “Keep on Trockin’.”
Dance Consortium is a group of 19 large scale UK venues with a shared passion for engaging people with the best contemporary dance from across the world. Since its formation in 2000 Dance Consortium has presented 41 tours by 22 different companies from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Israel and the USA. Their performances and education activities have been experienced by hundreds of thousands of people across all parts of the UK. Dance Consortium receives investment as a national portfolio organisation of Arts Council England.
Dance Consortium members: Grand Opera House Belfast; Birmingham Hippodrome; Alhambra Theatre Bradford; Brighton Dome; Marlowe Theatre Canterbury; Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff; Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin; Festival Theatre Edinburgh; Curve Theatre Leicester; Sadler’s Wells London; Milton Keynes Theatre; Theatre Royal Newcastle; Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham with Dance 4; Theatre Royal Plymouth; The Lowry Salford; The Mayflower, Southampton; New Victoria Theatre, Woking; Hull, New Theatre; Norwich Theatre Royal. Buxton Opera House (Guest Member 2018/19), Eden Court Theatre Inverness (Guest Member 2018/19).
www.danceconsortium.com @DanceConsortium www.facebook.com/danceconsortium
