In fine form for the holidays, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo opened its three-week New York City season on Tuesday. The troupe is presenting two characteristic programs in repertory at the Joyce Theater. As always, the ballets are made even more characteristic through their interpretations by legendary –- indeed, imaginary — artistes of the dance such as Olga Supphozova and Boris Dumbkopf. (Not incidentally, consider me subbing for critic Dunno DeNada, my colleague in the New York Stage Review dance department, currently indisposed.)
Of course, by now most readers are aware that the troupe, fondly known as The Trocks, is a professional all-male company of dancers whose athleticism and fine technique gives them the ability to skillfully execute the demands of classical ballet while slyly poking fun at the form’s manners and conventions. The fictional artistes they depict while doing so lends an additional humorous gloss to the performances.
This season’s opener, Program A, delivers the company’s adorable Act II Giselle send-up of spooky romantic ballets, plus the world premiere of Symphony, a tribute to Symphony in C, a longtime George Balanchine staple of the New York City Ballet. Not reviewed here, Program B features the company’s celebrated Act II Swan Lake parody along with three other subtly tongue-in-cheek works. While Program B may present the more accessible (or at least the more varied) slate of ballets for newbies to be introduced to The Trocks’ unique artistry, Program A certainly packs plenty of charm.
No less a true legend than Edward Gorey designed the Victorian-stylized painted backdrop of a gloomy forest for Giselle, where the newly-deceased peasant girl of the title is summoned back as a spirit to dance to death the guy who betrayed her. As the soundtrack of Adolphe Adam’s melodramatic 1840s score churns away, a band of ghostly Wilis droopily skitter around in gauzy white gowns, veils and garish vampire make-up. (“Wilis” are unmarried women betrayed by their lovers, and don’t blame us for this 19th century definition.) The story’s cruel Queen of the Wilis is coolly depicted by an imperious Varvara Laptopova (Takaomi Yoshino), sporting a long-stemmed lily quivering atop a sleek head. The very blond and very prominently packing Mikhail Mudkin (Raydel Caceres) nicely partners the ever-wilting Giselle of an ultra-delicate Anya Marx (Shohei Iwahama) through a pas de deux on their way to the tomb. Ballet blanc costumes by Mike Gonzales and Kip Marsh’s lighting contribute to the ersatz atmospherics.
A world premiere designed to showcase The Trocks performing in a more modern style, the new Symphony pays homage to a lighthearted piece staged by George Balanchine in 1947 to Bizet’s Symphony in C. The effervescent score here is composed by Charles (Faust) Gounod, an influential teacher of Bizet. Created by choreographer Durante Verzola in his first work for the company, Symphony is structured in four parts, where parallel lines of dancers often mirror the movements of their opposites even as one or two soloists at the center give fleet expression to the music. The mood is upbeat, the movements are swift and airy. Keep an eye out for cute gaffes and minor differences of artistic opinion among the ensemble. Lighting designer Erika Johnson provides a bright blue background for the otherwise minimalist decor. Designer Ken Busbin dresses the soloists and ensemble beautifully in perky, pale blue ruffled tutus with sparkly strapless silver bodices cut low to feature the graceful motion of everyone’s shoulders and arms.
The ever-striking Laptopova returns again as a principal dancer in admirable company with Elvira Khababgallina (Kevin Garcia), Colette Adae (Jake Speakman) and Medulli Lobtomov (Raphael Spyker), who smoothly perform Verzola’s clean-cut tribute to Balanchine in his brightest mode. The standout personality here is a radiant Tatiana Youbetyabootskaya (Andrea Fabbri), an artist physically built like a linebacker, who exuberantly cavorts through her solo while sporting a broad, self-satisfied Russian sort of smirk that glitters more than the bandeau tiara perched upon her head. The sight of that big lug dancing so prettily in that petite costume is quintessential Trocks.
When the company was founded in 1974, drag performers were nowhere near mainstream culture. Half a century later, when drag has become commonplace (and to some degree rather tiresome) entertainment, it’s a pleasure to witness Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo still looking so fresh and elegant in its satirical endeavors.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo opened December 17, 2022, at the Joyce Theater and runs through January 5, 2025. Tickets and information: joyce.org
