The comic ballet company “Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo” will perform at 8 p.m, Feb. 24 in the IU Auditorium. The dance group, also known as “The Trocks,” is celebrating their 50th anniversary season this year.
The male and non-binary dancers dressed as drag performers in parodies of traditional and classical ballet with rigorous techniques as a challenge to ballet’s rigid gender norms. With intentions to entertain, the show includes a fair mix of comedy and “silly antics” along with the dancers' complicated techniques, according to the company’s website.
“The Trocks” were founded amidst the Stonewall Uprising in 1974 by Peter Anastos, Anthony Bassae and Natch Taylor. The group organized small performances for/with the West Side Discussion Group – an early LGBTQ+ political organization. In 1975 the company qualified for the National Endowment for the Arts Touring Program and has since performed in over 43 countries and 667 cities.
According to the “The Trocks” community page, the company has been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, performers and arts education. Through its NYC Dance Engagement Initiative, the company offers low-or-no-price workshops to demonstrate the creative methods they engage in, such as ballet, comedy and drag.
In a collaboration with the IU Auditorium, Ryder Film Series and the Jacobs School of Music, the PBS documentary “Ballerina Boys,” which follows the group as they tour through the American Carolinas, will be played at 7:30 p.m, Feb. 23, in the IU Radio and TV Building theater. The film was shown previously Feb. 2, but this screening will be followed by a Q&A with the ballet master of “The Trocks,” Raffaele Morra. Fifty percent of the screening's ticket sales will be donated to Bloomington Pride.
According to the “Ballerina Boys” film description, “Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo” shares a message of equality, inclusion and social justice through their performative art.
