Review: TROCKS, Sadlers Wells
Zoran Jelenic
The discovery that this is the 50th Anniversary Tour for the Trocks came as something of a shock to some of us in the audience who saw them dance on their first UK visits. For those new to the company, and there were quite a few of those at Press Night, New York-based Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo are described on their website as “the world’s foremost gender-skewering, comic ballet company.”
Of course, that world has changed a lot since the company was founded shortly after the Stonewall Uprising in 1974. Seen in their early years very much as a drag ballet company, they now occupy a more gender-fluid space. Each dancer adopts a female and a male persona. This means that there are three bios for each dancer on the company website and these make an entertaining read.
This anniversary tour is mostly composed of familiar favourites, although with one or two items that may be new to UK audiences. We still begin with the inevitable announcements, always enjoyable, and mention of Croydon showed the company have done their local homework.
At Sadlers Wells they opened with their hardy perennial, Act II of Swan Lake. It’s a good introduction to the company style and also something of a showcase for the ballet skills on display, with male swans en pointe and plenty of lifts included.
It’s the comedy that audiences have come for however, and we soon spot individuals who are seeking our attention or little squabbles that seem to be developing among the company. It’s a gentle parody but still effective after all these years. After an interval there is a rather muted and subtle rendering of the Le Corsaire pas de deux followed by an enthusiastically received Metal Garden. This 2024 piece satirizing modern dance was a nice contrast to the rest of the programme. It was followed by the Dying Swan, probably danced as often by this company as by Pavlova herself. It’s a one-joke piece but nicely danced all the same.
After a second interval, the final ballet on offer was Paquita, with the whole company of 12 on stage. The humour here was a little more muted and the dancing perhaps more impressive, with some bravura sections from Takaomi Yoshino and building to a big finish. The company encore, heralded by a burst of dry ice, was a quick burst of Riverdance-style Irish dancing.
The whole programme was enjoyed by the audience, especially those younger people new to the Trocks, but regulars may have been disappointed not to see more that was new. In particular, humour in ballet has developed rapidly in the years since the company was founded. When Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures have created a gender-fluid Swan Lake which also comments with wit and style on the form of ballet itself, as well as parodies like Highland Fling, is it perhaps time for the Trocks to find new targets. Maybe a Trocks parody of a Matthew Bourne ballet?
Classical ballet companies have sought to rethink their staples too, whether with Akram Khan’s Giselle or by introducing new narratives to the ballet genre. Perhaps these moves would be suitable targets for future Trocks parodies? The company undoubtedly does great work among its community – do read more about that on the website – and it is still impressive and enjoyable on stage even if not quite achieving the shock and surprise from audiences that was once the case.
The UK tour continues to Cardiff, Wolverhampton, Southampton, Newcastle, Bradford, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Canterbury, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Buxton, with ballets to be programmed at these venues including Go for Barocco and Walpurgisnacht.
*** Three Stars
Reviewed by Nick Wayne
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