Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Tour - Salford)

The Trocks perform classic ballet in a style that combines technical ability with irreverence. The all-male company, some of them built like rugby players, dance female roles dressed in tutus to mock the perception of ballet as being humourless and elitist.
 
Opening and closing with, respectively, Swan Lake and Raymonda’s Wedding; they reveal every possible showbiz nightmare. Cues are missed, entrances fluffed, pratfalls follow perfect ballet movements and a member of the ensemble misbehaves. Dancers Robert Carter and Joshua Grant provide moments of inspired silliness

The technical prowess of the Trocks is showcased in the Pas de Deux that opens Acts Two. Rather than playing for laughs the dancers’ improvisation charmingly reveals the sheer joy of dancing. Modern dance is sometimes hard to distinguish from exercise routines so Peter Anastos’s choreography for "Go for Barocco", which includes dry swimming and speed walking, is spot-on. A great comic routine between Grant and Brock Hayhoe brings out showbiz bitchiness.

Additions to the programme include old favourite "The Dying Swan" where the poor bird visibly moults and the dancer sends up the whole thing by milking the applause. An encore of the cast performing Riverdance through gritted teeth confirms that The Trocks continue to be inspired by their love of dance. 

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is as good as it gets.

- Dave Cunningham