The 92nd season of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival got underway with a bang last Wednesday evening, June 26, with a performance in the Ted Shawn Theatre by “Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo,” the world famous men’s comedic ballet and dance company affectionately known as “The Trocks.” This company of men dancers performs all the roles in their ballets, and when the roles are of the classical ballet variety and usually performed by women, the men perform the roles “en travesti and en pointe,” as their company chronicles proudly exclaim. These men regularly dance on pointe in tutus.
This year, the Trocks are celebrating 50 years, having been formed in 1974. As noted by Pillow Artistic and Executive Director Pamela Tatge in her curtain speech, that timing was perhaps not entirely coincidental: The company’s formation followed the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, which is considered by many to be the start of the gay rights movement in the United States. In these past 50 years, the Trocks have had an important impact—arguably an institutional influence—on the expanding arc of gender understanding in this country and the world, and they have always exercised that influence while bringing both inspiration and genuine belly laughs to their audiences. The Trocks gracefully and ingeniously combine slapstick, farce, and clowning with the pure artistry of dance.
The company has a knack for expertly walking the fine line between caricature of ballet and dance (and themselves), and complete reverence for that same art form. At the Pillow, the company’s program focuses on ballet and consists of a one-act rendering of “Swan Lake,” a sendup of George Balanchine’s choreography from his “black-and-white ballet” period, a singularly Trocks’ interpretation of the iconic “Dying Swan” solo, and a compact adaptation of the early ballet “Paquita.” This program cuts a swath through the last 180 years of hallowed ballet history. And, because of the company’s undying devotion to and respect for ballet, one could consistently see the through-line of original ballet choreography in every piece as almost an inside joke. However, the Trocks are nothing if not inclusive. The work is entirely accessible on its own. Audience members who had never seen any of the ballets, and who did not know any of the history, would not have any kind of diminished experience. Their enjoyment over the course of the evening would remain complete.
This is because the Trocks’ staging is assured, the comedic timing consistently spot-on, and the dancing strong and self-possessed. The Trocks don’t often let the audience forget that, even when the men are dancing on pointe in roles historically danced by women, they are still men dancing. For example, the remarkable dancer Takaomi Yoshino, dancing the prima ballerina part in “Paquita,” did a well-executed step which included double tours en l’air, a ballet movement traditionally done by men. Preparing for the combination from pointe, and in a platter tutu, it was unusual for sure, and remarkable. And when these men are not acting their roles in the pieces, and are just dancing, they do not try to be anyone or anything other than who they are. They dance with the power, the speed, the size and the volume which their bodies allow. It is wondrous to watch.
This viewer would have, however, liked to see more dancing without the comedic element—just beautiful, nuanced movement. Throughout the evening, this is something these mature and thoughtful dancers often did, professionally and beautifully. Robert Carter as the “Dying Swan,” for example, seemed to have the expressive arms, shoulders, and upper body needed to bring the swan to life (and therefore to a powerful death), but he never fully had the opportunity, as the Trocks’ version injected comedic elements into the piece throughout. Of course, the Trocks’ interpretation of “Dying Swan” was very funny. And, of course, the Trocks as a company, like each dancer individually, are just being true to who they are, and who they have thankfully and wonderfully been for the last 50 years. Who knows what the next 50 years will bring for this remarkable company!
“Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo” will be performing at Jacob’s Pillow through Sunday, June 30.
