Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo to Return to New York City for the Holidays

Beloved around the world for their brilliant artistry and unparalleled comic-timing, the astounding Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, recently nominated for three UK National Dance Awards including a Stef Stefanou Award for Outstanding Company, will be presented by The Joyce Theater (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) for its bi-annual three-week engagement, the perfect holiday treat, from December 13 - 31, 2016.

The season will once again leave audiences inspired and entertained with two different programs, including the New York premiere of Pas de six from Napoli, originally choreographed in 1842 by Danish choreographer and ballet master August Bournonville for Denmark's Royal Danish Ballet.

Tickets are $26-$81 and can be arranged by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or online at www.joyce.org. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street, in Chelsea.

The tutu-fabulous, pointe shoe wearing all-male international dance sensation Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Tory Dobrin, Artistic Director) returns to The Joyce Theater with two joyful programs perfectly timed to the 2016 holiday season. The Trocks, as they are affectionately known, have taken the world by storm with their brilliant mastery of ballet technique, stunningly flamboyant personalities, and hilarious parodies of timeless classics from some of the worlds most renowned ballets. Adorned with their size 12 pointe shoes, these internationally-renowned ballerinas illuminate the passion, tragedy and joy of classical ballet.

The Trocks were recently nominated for three UK National Dance Awards including the Stef Stefanou Award for Outstanding Company, and two for dancer Chase Johnsey, who made history for being the first dancer ever to receive a nomination for Outstanding Male Performance as a ballerina in the title role of Paquita. Johnsey also received the Dancing Times Award for Best Male Dancer. The awards will be presented on February 6, 2017 in London.

Showcasing the primo ballerinas whose dazzling footwork and comedic prowess has made this troupe the foremost all-male comic ballet company in the world, the Trocks will present two programs full of sparkling costumes, stunning dance and laughs for the whole family. The Trocks return to The Joyce Theater with audience favorites such as Swan Lake, Raymonda's Wedding, Giselle and Paquita. Most anticipated, however, will be New York premiere of Pas de six from August Bournonville's classic ballet Napoli.

An evening at The Joyce with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo promises to be one full of shimmering, hilarious and superlatively danced family-friendly ballet that is sure to brighten everyone's holiday season.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, December 13 at 7:30pm (Opening of Program A) Program A

Wednesday, December 14 at 7:30pm (Dance Chat) Program A

Thursday, December 15 at 8pm Program A

Friday, December 16 at 8pm (Opening of Program B) Program B

Saturday, December 17 at 3pm Program B

Saturday, December 17 at 8pm Program B

Sunday, December 18 at 3pm Program B

Monday, December 19 No Performance

Tuesday, December 20 at 7:30pm Program B

Wednesday, December 21 at 3pm Program A

Wednesday, December 21 at 7:30pm Program A

Thursday, December 22 at 8pm Program A

Friday, December 23 at 8pm Program A

Saturday, December 24 at 3pm Program A

Sunday, December 25 No Performance

Monday, December 26 at 7:30pm Program A

Tuesday, December 27 at 7:30pm Program A

Wednesday, December 28 at 3pm Program A

Wednesday, December 28 at 7:30pm Program A

Thursday, December 29 at 8pm Program B

Friday, December 30 at 8pm Program B

Saturday, December 31 at 3pm Program B

Program A

Swan Lake Act II, "Pas de six" from Napoli*, Raymonda's Wedding,

as well as a Pas de Deux or Modern Work to be announced

Program B

Giselle Act II, Paquita

*New York Premiere

The Joyce Theater presents a three-week engagement of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo from December 13 - December 31, 2016. Tickets are $26-$81 and can be arranged by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or online at www.joyce.org. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. Curtain Chat, a free post-performance talkback with members of the company, will take place on Wednesday, December 14. This enlightening discussion is open to all patrons attending that evening's performance. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For more info, visit www.Joyce.org.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was 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 and en travesti, Les Ballets Trockadero first performed in the late-late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts. The Trocks, as they are affectionately known, quickly garnered a major critical essay by Arlene Croce in The New Yorker, and combined with reviews in The New York Times and The Village Voice, established the Company as an artistic and popular success. By mid 1975, the Trocks' inspired blend of their loving knowledge of dance, their comic approach, and the astounding fact that men can, indeed, dance en pointe without falling flat on their faces, was being noted beyond New York. Articles and notices in publications such as Variety, Oui, The London Daily Telegraph, as well as a Richard Avedon photo essay in Vogue, made the Company nationally and internationally known.

The 1975-76 season was a year of growth and full professionalization. The Company found management, qualified for the National Endowment for the Arts Touring Program, and hired a full-time teacher and ballet mistress to oversee daily classes and rehearsals. Also in this season, they made their first extended tours of the United States and Canada. Packing, unpacking, and repacking tutus and drops, stocking giant sized pointe shoes by the case; running for planes and chartered buses all became routine parts of life.

Since those beginnings, the Trocks have established themselves as a major dance phenomenon throughout the world. They have participated in dance festivals world-wide and there have been television appearances as varied as a Shirley MacLaine special, The Dick Cavett Show, What's My Line?, Real People, On-Stage America, with Kermit and Miss Piggy on their show Muppet Babies, and a BBC Omnibus special on the world of ballet hosted by Jennifer Saunders. Awards that the Trocks have garnered over the years include for best classical repertoire from the prestigious Critic's Circle National Dance Awards (2007) (UK), the Theatrical Managers Award (2006) (UK) and the 2007 Positano Award (Italy) for excellence in dance. In December 2008, the Trocks appeared at the 80th anniversary Royal Variety Performance, to aid the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, in London, attended by members of the British royal family.

The Trocks' numerous tours have been both popular and critical successes - their frenzied annual schedule has included appearances in over 35 countries and over 600 cities worldwide since its founding in 1974. Including seasons at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and the Chatelet Theater in Paris. The Company continues to appear in benefits for international AIDS organizations such as Dancers Responding to AIDS and Classical Action in New York City; the Life Ball in Vienna, Austria; Dancers for Life in Toronto, Canada; London's Stonewall Gala; and Germany's AIDS Tanz Gala. A documentary about the company, Rebels on Pointe, was recently completed and will travel to film festivals throughout 2017.

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 the 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. The fact that men dance all the parts--heavy bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic princesses, angst-ridden Victorian ladies--enhances rather than mocks the spirit of dance as an art form, delighting and amusing the most knowledgeable, as well as novices, in the audiences. For the future, there are plans for new works in the repertoire: new cities, states and countries to perform in; and for the continuation of the Trocks' original purpose: to bring the pleasure of dance to the widest possible audience. They will, as they have done for more than forty years, "Keep on Trockin'."

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a nonprofit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce 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 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-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 now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000.