Founded in 1974, the concept of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was formulated by a group of ballet enthusiasts with the purpose of presenting a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet danced by males dancers.
The original concept has not changed: The Trocks, as they are affectionately known, make up a company of professional male dancers who have the fantastic talent to perform the full range of the ballet and modern dance repertoire, including classical and original works in playful mimicking renditions of the manners of those dance styles. Comedy is a huge part of The Trocks’ work, achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the accidents and mistakes that can happen with dance.
The dancers turn their hands (and feet!) to dancing swans, sylphs, romantic princesses, whilst performing skilled point work in giant shoes and enhancing the spirit of dance as an art form with their male forms. Whilst some may see The Trocks as ostentatious, their talent is undeniable in performing great classical roles with a few trip-ups and shoving partners thrown in for good measure! They are in no way demure and are ruthless in their fight against each other to become the ‘star’.
The company began by performing in the late-late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts and quickly gained major critical acclaim, which established the Company as an artistic and popular success. By mid-1975, The Trocks had successfully blended their loving knowledge of dance and comic approach. Since then the company has developed an extensive touring schedule, with the US based company appearing in over 30 countries and over 500 cities worldwide since its founding.
As a testament to their success, The Trocks have won numerous awards including best classical repertoire from the 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, in aid of the Entertainment Artistes’ Benevolent Fund.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
With songs such as Seasons of Love, Out Tonight, and Without You, Rent the musical is a tale of a group of friends living n the East Village of New York City, about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Rent is based loosely on La Boheme, and has won the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a pop cultural musical phenomenon.
A year on from the London 2012 Olympic Games, there is much celebration about the phenomenal events which happened precisely one year ago. Over the past year much has come from the Olympic legacy, with sports and cultural institutions benefitting from the heat wave emanating from the dust of the Olympics in the capital.
As the end of the last school and college holidays draw near, students all over begin to contemplate the future. In collecting their A2 results from Sixth Form or college, there is much speculation as to whether the student achieved the grades to get into their selected universities, and then study the subject they applied for initially.
Busby Berkeley, born November 29 1895 (died March 14 1976) was a highly influential Hollywood director and musical choreographer, famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that involved complex choreography through geometric patterns. Berkeley’s works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in on-screen performances which were both captivating and impressive.
Leanne Benjamin, the recently retired Principal of The Royal Ballet Company, is perhaps one of the recently departed dancers who will be the most greatly missed. She recently appeared in Carlos Acosta’s Classical Selection, dancing roles in extracts from some of the best-loved classical and neo-classical pieces such as Mayerling and Manon, with passionate vigour and full commitment to the production.
Northern Ballet is offering audiences the opportunity to go behind the scenes and discover many theatrical secrets of ‘backstage’ at a free rehearsal event at its headquarters in Leeds. Deemed as the perfect treat for ballet lovers or an introduction to ballet, the event is set to take place on the evening of 14th August, offering audiences the chance to enjoy a cheeky preview of Northern Ballet’s latest production A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The events are the perfect chance to see Northern Ballet’s talented dancers up close and get a taste for the less well-known production, which will run from 6-14 September 2013.
The prestigious Royal Ballet School announced the appointment of Christopher Powney as their Artistic Director Designate last month, who is due to step into the role in April 2014. The current Artistic Director, Gailene Stock, is sadly unwell, and will retire from her post on 31 August 2014. As a result, the summer term of 2014 will see Powney taking over the running of the School after a transitional period. Jay Jolley will continue in the role of Acting Director and will lead the School’s artistic programmes into the 2013/14 academic year.
The theatre is a world of mystique, intrigue and illusion, serving to delight and entertain its audience with spectacle, no matter how otherworldly. This tradition of theatre is still upheld in many venues and arts spaces across the country and even across the world, but equally much of the previous spectacle has developed to accommodate the twenty first century. Productions have alternative intents, aiming to shock and provoke audiences rather than provide a successful model of theatre which has been proven to work.