Les Ballets Trockadero Coming to Cohan Center Feb. 16

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- With stage names such as Ida Nevasayneva,
Velour Pilleaux, and Tatiana Youbetyabootskaya, one might wonder about
the dancers of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.

All shall be revealed on Friday, February 16, 2007 at 8 p.m. in Harman
Hall at the Christopher Cohan Center, when the gentlemen (yes,
gentlemen) of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo dance the fine line
between high art and high camp.

Combining a wicked comic sense of humor with a devoted respect and true
talent for classical dance, the all-male, 16-member “Clown Princes of
Ballet” will perform parodies of ballet cornerstone “Swan Lake,” as well
as the interpretive “Go for Barocco” and “Gaite Parisienne.”

The San Francisco Chronicle declared that the Trocks, as they're
affectionately known, “one of the great comic creations of the American
stage.”

Founded in 1974 by a group of ballet enthusiasts for the purpose of
presenting a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet
in parody form, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo first performed in
the late-late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts.

It is a company of professional male dancers performing the full range
of the ballet and modern dance repertoire, including classical and
original works in faithful renditions of those dance styles.

The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles,
accidents, and underlying incongruities of serious dance.

The fact that men dance all the parts – heavy bodies delicately
balancing en pointe as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic
princesses, angst-ridden Victorian ladies – enhances rather than mocks
the spirit of dance as an art form and has delighted the novices as well
as the most knowledgeable in their audiences.

From their inception, the Trocks quickly garnered major critical
reviews in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and the Village Voice –
all of which established the company as an artistic and popular success.

By mid-1975, the Trocks' inspired blend of loving knowledge of dance,
their comic approach, and the astounding fact that men can indeed dance
on their toes without falling flat on their faces was being noted beyond
New York. Variety, Oui, the London Daily Telegraph, as well as a Richard
Avedon photo essay in Vogue, made the company nationally and
internationally known.

By 1976, the company made their first extended tours of the United
States and Canada; packing, unpacking, and repacking tutus, stocking
giant sized toe shoes by the case, and running for planes and chartered
buses all became routine parts of life.

Since then, the Trocks have established themselves as a major dance
phenomenon throughout the world. They have participated in dance
festivals in Bodrun, Holland, Madrid, Montreal, New York, Paris,
Spoleto, Turin, and Vienna.

Their annual schedule has included six tours to Australia and New
Zealand, 22 to Japan – where their annual summer tours have created a
nation-wide cult following and a fan club – eight tours to South
America, three to South Africa, and 48 tours of Europe.

In the United States, the Trocks have become a regular part of the
college and university circuit in addition to regular dance
presentations in cities all of the 50 states.

There have been television appearances in the U.S., Japan, Germany, and
France, BBC specials, and a documentary aired internationally by the
acclaimed British arts program, “The South Bank Show.” The company was
also featured in the PBS program, “The Egg,” highlighting arts in America.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo also continues to appear in
benefits for international AIDS organizations such as “DRA” (Dancers
Responding to AIDS) and “Classical Action" in New York City, the “Life
Ball” in Vienna, “Dancers for Life” in Toronto, and London’s “Stonewall
Gala.”

Tickets for the performance range from $32 to $44, with student
discounts available, and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Ticket
Office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

To order by phone, call 805/756-2787; to order by fax: 805/756-6088.

Order on-line at www.pacslo.org. Sponsored by Quality Suites and KCBX 90.1 FM. For audio and video samples of Cal Poly Arts events, visit www.calpolyarts.org.

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