Interview: Felix Molinero of LES BALLETS TROCKADERO at Jones Hall

On January 23rd Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo brings its 50th anniversary tour to Jones Hall. The comedic ballet troupe will be delivering an evening of their “greatest hits”, and this Houston stop is courtesy of Performing Arts Houston. Broadway World writer Brett Cullum got a chance to sit down with Felix Molinero, a company member, to discuss “The Trocks” and what we can expect from this special long-awaited performance. 

Brett Cullum: I am such a huge fan of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, but why don’t you describe it for people out there who may not know what the troupe is? 

Felix Molinero: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male drag ballet comedy company where we take these big classical ballets like SWAN LAKE, GISELLE, THE NUTCRACKER, and PAQUITA, big famous well-known ballets. We give them a little bit of a turn with just men doing the female roles and the male roles. And all these roles, we will be wearing crazy wigs, crazy makeup, crazy long eyelashes, big red lipsticks, and, of course, point shoes. And on top of that, we will reproduce those ballets with the technique to the best that we can because we are professional dancers. We have been trained for that.

Brett Cullum: Oh, I was gonna ask you, Felix, how did you become a member of this company 'cause you said you were a trained dancer. Right? 

Felix Molinero: Yeah. I trained. I started at the conservatory when I was nine years old, and from then on, I moved from Spain to France. I studied for three years at the University of Music and Performing Arts. And when I was finishing my studies, the Trocadero company was traveling to Leipzig. I wrote an email, and I got invited to an audition while they were there. I was expecting to stay one day, and in the end, I stayed five days, and they took me with them. 

Brett Cullum: So, the home base for The Trocks. It is New York City. And you guys rehearse there. It looks like you have some dancers that have been with a company a long time and some that are new. How long have you been with this troop?

Felix Molinero: Well, I joined back in August of 2019. So this is my sixth season. I have been here for a while. But there are people that have. For example, Robert Carter has been here… I think this is his twenty-seventh season, and he has been here forever.

Brett Cullum: And currently, you guys have fifteen members? 

Felix Molinero: Yeah, that's correct. 

Brett Cullum: I noticed that each of you has drag names, and you have both an assumed name for your female persona and your male persona. Your “chick name” is Holly Dey-Abroad, and your “dude name” is Bruno Backpfeifengesicht. Who comes up with those hilarious names? Do you guys do it for yourselves? Or do you just get assigned? 

Felix Molinero: It's actually very funny cause I thought it was ourselves who were choosing. But in this case, it's not like that. So once you join the company, the director Tory Dobrin, he likes to see you. How do you interact with other dancers? How do you put yourself inside the group? From then on, you will decide how your personality shows a little bit, and he will decide what is gonna be your name.  

Brett Cullum: I've always heard that in ballet, the female parts are really the toughest, and dancing a woman's part in the art form is tough as a guy because you're not built like a woman. Your sense of gravity and everything is totally different. How do you compensate for that? Being a man dancing a woman's part.

Felix Molinero: Of course, first is ballet point shoes are not made for male feet. It is already hard to find shoes in our size. You are on the top of your toes, so in order to find your balance is not the same for a person who is 45 kilos and five foot four than being, I don't know 80 kilos and standing six foot five is completely different. Your gravity, your balance. So you practice. That's where I can say practice, practice until you find the right shoes and you're able to develop your technique. 

Brett Cullum: So, do you guys have to be super strong cause you have to lift each other up sometimes and do all of these different things? The weight difference is a lot compared to the females.

Felix Molinero: Of course, and in this company, sometimes when we are partnering male with male. Sometimes the director likes to put a small guy partnering with a big guy. So if it's already a big difference, imagine on points is even a bigger distance. But that's funny. That's part of the show, and that actually gives you that challenge and the answer. To be able to partner with somebody that is like three times bigger than you. It's very funny, and it could be very hilarious to see a very petite guy partnering with somebody who is three times bigger than them. 

Brett Cullum: One of the things that I think is so amazing about this company, the Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, is your injection of humor into ballet. Usually, we take ballet so seriously, and we just think of it as this pristine art form. So you guys really have fun with it. But do you find yourself trying to find the comedy? I mean, how do you do that as a performer? Do you actually think oh, this would be funny, or does it happen naturally?

Felix Molinero: Well, actually we do like a double job. You need to concentrate not only on the choreography but also on the steps. You need also to have this side of being funny. But you know, during the moment you take the comedy seriously, it works. Cause if you know that a joke is coming, and you're trying to look silly, that is what it looks not funny anymore. So the point of making a joke is doing it as seriously as you can in order for the audience to understand. And they see he's really trying, but he's looking so silly. But he's really trying. Once you get used to it, is very comfortable, and it comes naturally. 

Brett Cullum: Drag has become a political hot point for Conservatives in this country. Especially in places like Texas. Have you noticed more attention to your troupe as you tour America? Is some of it a little bit more negative lately? Are you guys feeling the effects of that? 

Felix Molinero: Well, normally we have great people welcoming us; they are very gracious and humble in general. It's true that we have been in places where I do remember they told us at the end of the show there were gonna be some protestors outside of the theater. There were police, and it was a little bit crazy cause we didn't know what the hell was going on. We were like, what is happening? 

It's sad to hear on the news or in the papers that drag performances are being taken on in some states. But this is something people will not be able to upset or make illegal. We are moving forward like we are. Fifty years ago, when the company was created, things have changed a lot. So I think people need to adapt to the new world. We should accept each person.  

Brett Cullum: I know you guys are coming to the Houston performance on January twenty-third. What can we expect? 

Felix Molinero: For this fifth anniversary, we are bringing three different programs for the tour. I think we're bringing to Houston, like, there's some surprise. I cannot say everything that we're gonna do, because you will see there will be some surprises. What I can tell you is we are going to do act two of SWAN LAKE. It's like a favorite; everybody loves SWAN LAKE. I think we are bringing back Paquita as well.   It is actually my favorite ballet to perform cause it is from Spain, and I'm actually from Spain! The music is so elegant. 

I think the people are gonna be very excited to see what we are gonna show and present to them. So I really invite everybody to get a ticket to see what we are gonna do, because what we do they will not see it that often. 

You know,  we are the only all-male comedy ballet troop here!

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo comes to Houston for one night only on Tuesday, January 23rd, at Jones Hall downtown. Performing Arts Houston is sponsoring this stop in their 50th anniversary tour. Tickets can be purchased through the link below. 

Photo provided by Gene Schiavone 

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