After seeing the Trocks you will never be able to go to the ROH with a straight face again. The historical ballet traditions we accept and take for granted have been kidnapped and held to ransom by an all male ballet cast in drag and en pointe, reproducing the classics.
These boys were in tutus way before Billy Elliott hit the scene; before Matthew Bourne’s famously male corps in his version of Swan Lake. The company has been delighting audiences with its delightful dance mockery since it was founded in 1974.
Ludicrous panto-esque prancing and elaborately gestured mime scenes combine with fist waving and karate kicks, farcically over stylised gestures, expressions and steps. The solid torsos, hairy chests and meaty legs of ballerinas named Svetlana Lofatkina, Nadia Doumiafeyva and Tatiana Youbetyabooskaya as they stamp and flounce, parading indelicately across the stage, produces an endearing quality, rather like watching pot bellied kids in their annual ballet revue.
They turn soft armed romantic gestures into bad eyes and bitch fights, highlighting the pecking order of the prima, soloists and corps.
In their signature pas de quatre, the hilarious Robert Carter steals the show. The long limbed Bernd Burgmaier also delights with his withering prima persona, and hairy chested Raffaele Morra’s quick wit will make you laugh out loud.
All pratfalls aside, they actually dance remarkably well en pointe. The show is expertly put together and with razor-sharp reference expect a lot of guffawing from ballet aficionados at the in jokes.
For some, the hilarious ridicule will only go so far - it is slightly tired humour for the sophisticate and those easily bored by an evening of classical ballet rep will be equally as bored by the familiar dances, even when done by drag queens.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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