@ Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, on Wed 21 Oct 2015 (touring)
It has to be admitted that British audiences do love a bit of drag, and for this reason alone it is perhaps unsurprising to witness such a healthy turnout for Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre tonight. However, despite any impression their publicity might give, Les Ballets Trockadero are much more than simply ballerinos in tutus. Although the pre-curtain announcement is admittedly somewhat Carry On en pointe, what follows is very carefully crafted—the sort of parody that only those truly in love with ballet could fashion so perfectly.
The humour comes from a clever mix of visual gags, physical comedy, and a cornucopia of more subtle caricatures of classical ballet norms. Some of their repertoire, such Trockadero favourites Swan Lake (Act II) and the The Dying Swan, is certainly played directly to the audience. On the other hand, their Go for Barocco is a joyous and intelligent send-up of George Balanchine’s 1941 ballet Concerto Barocco, and is mainly more understated in its choreographic exaggerations. The finale, the Scottish premiere of an amusingly reimagined and highly compressed version of Don Quixote, is almost performed ‘straight’, and features a really accomplished performance by Carlos Hopuy (aka Alla Snizova) as Kitri.
Ultimately, however, what makes the comedy work so well is the quality of the dancing. Every ‘mistake’ is artfully choreographed, every bit of grunting and gurning over the lifting of heavy set ballerinas very deliberate, and every embellishment very carefully finessed. Although the majority of the evening is played for laughs, the dancing is still precise, frequently beautiful and seemingly effortless. The energy, dexterity and physical power of the pas de deux from Le Corsaire, for instance, is breathtaking.
Despite being performed en travesti, Les Ballets Trocadero deliver something that is a real celebration of male dance—the drag element seems almost incidental and is in many ways quickly forgotten. They certainly do know how to put on a good show, with genuinely something for everyone: for fair-weather ballet goers and hard core ballet aficionados alike.