The TROCKS Return To NYC

The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to present the return of the internationally adored Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo for three weeks, December 11-30. Hot off a blockbuster tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the beautiful and brilliantly bawdy gals of the "Trocks," as they are affectionately known, will offer two programs during the engagement, including Joyce premieres as well as audience favorites. The season shows off the company's award-winning dancers performing a perfect mix of loving interpretations and hilarious parodies of ballet classics. Tickets are $49-$65 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 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 for the 2018 holiday season. The Trocks 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 beloved ballets. Adorned with their size 12 pointe shoes, these internationally-renowned ballerinas illuminate the passion, tragedy, and joy of classical ballet.
Showcasing the primo ballerinas whose dazzling footwork and comedic prowess have 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. Program A features the eternally delightful Swan Lake and Petipa's The Little Humpbacked Horse, a perfect vehicle for the Trocks' zany interpretation. Highlighting Program B is the first New York City performance in 15 years of the Balanchine-inflected Stars and Stripes Forever, with choreography by Robert LaFosse and music by John Philip Sousa.

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 - pirouettes on stage, and maybe a pratfall off stage - sure to brighten everyone's holiday season.

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; or . 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, which, combined with reviews in The New York Times and The Village Voice, established the Company as an artistic and popular success. The Trocks have participated in dance festivals worldwide, television appearances as varied as a Shirley MacLaine special, "The Dick Cavett Show," with Kermit and Miss Piggy on their show "Muppet Babies," and a BBC Omnibus special on the world of ballet hosted by Jennifer Saunders. A documentary about the company, Rebels on Pointe by Bobbi Jo Hart, had its theatrical release in 2017. Awards that the Trocks have garnered over the years include: 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 performed for members of the British royal family at the 80th anniversary Royal Variety Performance, to aid the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, in London. The company's frenzied annual touring schedule has included appearances in over 35 countries and over 600 cities worldwide since its founding, including seasons at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and the Châtelet Theater in Paris. The Company 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, Austria, Dancers for Life in Toronto, Canada, London's Stonewall Gala, and Germany's AIDS Tanz Gala.
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-four years, "Keep on Trockin'."

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit 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 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 to 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 (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.