Dance Consortium Presents LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO

This autumn sees Dance Consortium's 50th tour of the world's best international contemporary dance - and its sixth tour of the iconic Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.

Based in New York, The Trocks are loved world-wide for their hilarious homages and sassy spoofs of classical ballet. Their impeccable comic timing is matched by their immaculate technique and daring physicality. Every performance froths with tutus and testosterone, blush-pink ballet shoes, false eyelashes and prima ballerina attitude as the 16 dancers transform into different personas, male and female.

Based in New York, the company was founded in 1974 in the wake of the Stonewall Riots. Early performances were held on the makeshift stage of the West Side Discussion Group, an offshoot of the groundbreaking Mattachine Society, one of the first LGBTQ+ rights groups in the US.

On their latest visit to the UK, The Trocks are bringing three different programmes of beloved classical ballets, modern works and iconic music by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Vivaldi and Massenet.

The first of two programmes at London's Peacock Theatre begins with the company's signature work, Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II). Based on the original choreography by Ivanov, this elegiac phantasmagoria of variations and ensembles sweeps audiences into the magical realm of swans (and birds). After the interval, either a classical pas de deux or a modern work is announced from the stage, depending on the company's mood on the night. Then comes Nightcrawlers, set to Chopin nocturnes and choreographed by founding artistic director Peter Anastos as a sequel to Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet. Yes, Virginia...was a parody of Jerome Robbins' 'Dances at a Gathering' so it was only a matter of time before the Trocks set their sights on 'In the Night', Robbins' other great Chopin ballet. The Bolshoi Ballet-inspired Valpurgeyeva Noch, staged by Elena Kunikova after Leonid Lavrovsky, which Russians have long respected as a specimen of high Soviet balletic camp completes the programme.

The second London programme opens with Les Sylphides as an abstract classical ballet with atmospheric suggestions of 'Giselle' and 'La Sylphide', staged here by Alexandre Minz. The sentiments aroused spring from the sublime music of Chopin and its evocation of dreams, desire and melancholy. Then the mystery pas de deux (or short modern work) is followed by Vivaldi Suite, an homage to Balanchine. The evening closes with the Spanish-styled Majisimas, a seductive demonstration of the intricate beauty of classical ballet technique, staged by The Trocks' ballet master Raffaele Morra and danced to music from Jules Massenet's 1885 opera 'El Cid'.

After the London run, the company sets off on tour with a third programme. It opens with The Trocks' signature work Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II) which is followed by a mystery pas de deux or short modern work, announced from the stage on the night. Next up is the company's celebration of Balanchine, Vivaldi Suite. Finally comes Raymonda's Wedding, the traditionally confusing divertissements from the final act of 'Raymonda'. A ballet in three acts and fifteen scenes, 'Raymonda' has baffled audiences since its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1898. With choreography after Marius Petipa, The Trocks ignore all the plot intrigues and go straight for the happy ending!