| The Worlds Foremost Gender-Skewing Ballet - THE TROCKS - Celebrate Milestone 50th Anniversary at The Joyce | |
| Last Edit: Official_Press_Release 07:13 pm EDT 09/30/24 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 07:09 pm EDT 09/30/24 | |
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| The Joyce Theater Foundation presents Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo The World's Foremost Gender-Skewing Ballet Celebrates Milestone 50th Anniversary with Biannual Holiday Extravaganza Dual Program Highlights Include Act II of Swan Lake and NYC Premiere of Durante Verzola's Symphony December 17-January 5 The Joyce Theater 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street New York City (New York, New York—September 30, 2024) -- The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) invites audiences to enter the satirical, skilled, and slapstick corner of the ballet world with the 50th anniversary holiday engagement of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Known intimately and lovingly as "the Trocks," the all-male dance and comedy sensation that has twirled in tutus the world over returns home to New York City's Joyce Theater for a raucous season of performances from December 17-January 5. Tickets, ranging in price from $12-$82 (including fees), can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org. Haul out the holly, pointe shoes, and belly laughs—Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is set for a grand return to its New York City home for a hilarious holiday romp like never before. For three weeks at The Joyce, the Trocks will celebrate half a century of pirouettes & pratfalls, fouettés & false eyelashes, grand jetés & guffaws in a pair of dazzling programs guaranteed to delight new and returning audiences of all ages. Since 1974, the all-male ballet troupe has donned tutus and tiaras in honor of the grace required for classical dance while forswearing the rigid gender constructs of the form that has been thrust upon the company's decidedly male bodies. Having won over audiences worldwide—in 43 countries and more than 600 cities, no less—during the course of the last 50 years, the beloved Trocks show no sign of slowing down in their signature blend of technical precision, boisterous humor, and most importantly, each company member's love of dance. The first of two programs in the extended holiday engagement boasts the crown jewel of the three-week jubilee: the New York City premiere of rising star choreographer Durante Verzola's Symphony. Inspired by the demanding endurance, clean technique, and astounding artistry in both dance and design of George Balanchine's Symphony in C, the Trocks turn this complex and breathtaking masterwork on its head as only they can. Joining the premiere in Program A is Giselle Act II, an enduring company repertory favorite. While its plot involving vampires, resurrection, and a tasteful pas de deux to the death may seem, at first glance, out of character as a holiday offering, the work is imbued with a lighthearted touch that delivers it from the macabre to the merry. Program B brings with it a trio of repertory pieces that show off the Trocks' adept comedy and ballet chops in equal measure. The company's signature work, Swan Lake Act II: Le Lac des Cygnes makes an always-anticipated return to the stage with a phantasmagoria of variations—and birds. The beautiful princess-cum-swan Odette and her Prince Siegfried have been fluttering on the world's stages for nearly 150 years, yet no other troupe has been able to inject the haughty world of Russian folklore with gender-bent humor like the Trocks. In Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet, choreographer Peter Anastos simultaneously skewers the abundance of choreographic works mentioned in its title and their intention to strip away the artifice of the classical dancer. Rounding out the program, Raymonda's Wedding—a traditionally confusing divertissement in two scenes—distills the baffling three-act, fifteen-scene Raymonda into only its happy ending, ignoring all its plot intrigues to focus on the titular event. The pair of programs deliver unrivaled classical dance precision and technique paired with tongue-in-cheek humor, promising three weeks of holiday entertainment at The Joyce for families to revel in again and again. The performance schedule is as follows: PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Program A: Giselle (Act II); Symphony (NYC Premiere) Program B: Swan Lake (Act II); Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet; Raymonda's Wedding Tuesday, December 17 at 7:30pm Program A Wednesday, December 18 at 7:30pm Program A Thursday, December 19 at 7:30pm Program A Friday, December 20 at 7:30pm Program B Saturday, December 21 at 3pm Program B Saturday, December 21 at 7:30pm Program B Sunday, December 22 at 3pm Program B Tuesday, December 24 at 3pm Program B Thursday, December 26 at 7:30pm Program A Friday, December 27 at 7:30pm Program A Saturday, December 28 at 7:30pm Program A Sunday, December 29 at 3pm Program A Sunday, December 29 at 7pm Program A Monday, December 30 at 7:30pm Program A Tuesday, December 31 at 4pm Program A Thursday, January 2 at 7:30pm Program B Friday, January 3 at 7:30pm Program B Saturday, January 4 at 3pm Program B Saturday, January 4 at 7:30pm Program B Sunday, January 5 at 3pm Program B * * * ABOUT THE COMPANY Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was founded in 1974 by New York City-based ballet enthusiasts in order to present a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet in parody form and with men performing all of the roles – and in the case of roles usually danced by women: en travesti and en pointe. Founders Peter Anastos, Anthony Bassae, and Natch Taylor broke away from Larry Ree's Gloxinia Trockadero Ballet to create a dance- and choreography-focused company. They put on their first shows on the makeshift stage of the West Side Discussion Group, an early gay and lesbian political organization, which was led by future Trockadero General Director Eugene McDougle. The performances were infused with a subversive edge as the country was still a long way from bringing drag performance to a mainstream audience. The Trocks, as they are affectionately known, soon garnered critical acclaim and cultural cachet in publications with major reach, such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, and the Village Voice. By mid-1975, the company's inspired blend of dance knowledge, comedy, and athleticism, moved beyond New York City when the Trocks qualified for the National Endowment for the Arts Touring Program, hired a full-time teacher and ballet mistress, and made its first extended tours of the United States and Canada. Packing, unpacking, and repacking tutus and drops, stocking giant-sized toe shoes by the case, and running for planes and chartered buses all became routine parts of life. They have been going non-stop ever since, appearing in 43 countries and more than 660 cities worldwide. The company branched out from the vibrant live performances and expanded its scope with an education program in 2016 and the Choreography Institute in November 2023. With so much activity, the Trocks have garnered a dedicated fan base, repeating performances in countries year after year, and continuing to add first-time engagements as the company enters its 50th Anniversary season. Interest and accolades have accumulated over the years. The Trocks have proved an alluring documentary subject, featured in an Emmy-winning episode of the acclaimed British arts program The South Bank Show; the 2017 feature film Rebels on Pointe; and most recently Ballerina Boys, which aired on PBS American Masters in 2021. Several of the Trocks' performances at the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, France, were also aired by Dutch, French and Japanese TV networks. Other television appearances have ranged from a Shirley MacLaine special to the Dick Cavett Show, What's My Line?, Real People, and On-Stage America. The dancers also have the distinction of appearing with Kermit and Miss Piggy on Muppet Babies. The company's awards include a prestigious UK Critics Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Repertoire (2007) and nomination for Outstanding Company (2016), the UK Theatrical Managers Award (2006); and the Positano Award for Excellence in Dance (2007, Italy). The company has appeared in multiple galas and benefits over the years, including at the 80th anniversary Royal Variety Performance to aid the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund in December 2008, which was attended by members of the British Royal family, including the (now) King Charles III. 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 ballet and modern dance repertoire, including classical and original works in faithful renditions of the manners and conceits of those dance styles. The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents, and underlying incongruities of serious dance. Muscular, athletic bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic princesses, and angst-ridden Victorian ladies enhance the appreciation for the art form, delighting die-hard ballet fans and newcomers alike. ABOUT THE JOYCE THEATER The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for more than four decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 475 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home through off-site presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater, to Brooklyn's Invisible Dog Art Center, and outdoor programming in spaces such as Hudson River Park. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (1st–12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance includes over 300 performances for audiences of over 100,000. The Joyce Theater welcomes the 50th anniversary holiday extravaganza of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo from December 17-January 5. Tickets, ranging in price from $12-$82 (including fees), can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org. * * * Leadership support for The Joyce Theater Foundation has been received from the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust. Champion support for The Joyce's annual programming has been provided by Howard Gilman Foundation and The Shubert Foundation. Major support for The Joyce has been provided by The Harkness Foundation for Dance and The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation. Commissioning support for the creation of Symphony provided, in part, by The Joyce's Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work. |
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