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Ballet with belly laughs
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Birmingham Hippodrome ***** “IT'S ballet, Jim, but not as we know
it,” as Dr McCoy might have spotted as the all-male cast set out to
prick the more precious bubbles floating around ballet. Anyone who has seen any serious ballet or
contemporary dance will know how stylised it can be and the affectations
which can creep in from walking on stage to take up a position and
awaiting the music to start to the slow motion flounced leaving. Lower down the ballet tree also come the stage
school fixed smiles and exaggerated gestures. So just think of every
moment in ballet that has made you smile or cringe, every cock-up and
fall, missed cue and pretentious gesture and there you have the Trocks,
as they are affectionately known, wickedly sending up the world of dance. This is not just an extended comedy sketch
though. If you really want to parody something you need to be pretty
good at it in the first place, the Tommy Cooper and Victor Borge
principle. Thus we have a troop of classically trained
ballet dancers who have danced with some pretty impressive companies and
their skill and technique is there for all to see – even in tutus. Yes, we have ballerinas as well, hairy chested
and a little heavy thighed, but blokes all the same who not only dispel
the myth that men can't dance en pointe but do it to a level many
ballerinas in leading companies would not sniff at. These lads are no slouches and lots of party
pieces of principal dancers in more . . . conventional ballets are
there and are done exceedingly well including some impressive
fouettés. Throughout it all though is an element of fun and
humour starting with the initial announcement in faux Russian listing
that night's dancers, which included Yuri Smirnov, Ashley Romanoff-Twitwillow
and, as Odette, Maya Thickenthiya. Sadly we were told that that
Natalia Notgudinov would not be appearing – a great loss that. The Trocks opened with Act 2
of Swan Lake with Smirnov (Robert Carter) sending lighning bolts
from his fingers as Von Rothbart and Prince Siegfried, Romanov-Twitwillow
(Joshua Grant) as much concerned with his wig and appearance as Odette –
he even stops mid dance so his mate Benno danced by Pepe Dufka (Raffaele
Morra) can take a picture. There is also the problem that
the Prince and Odette are struggling with the sign language of ballet
gestures which leads to some exaggerated explanations. Add a corps de ballet who get
in the wrong position, take out a cast member with a high kick and
manage to not only fall in a heap but then introduce
a bunny hop in Dance
of the Cygnets and this wasn't
quite how Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov envisioned it back in 1895. It is very funny though. Grant reappears in tutu in his
alter ego of Katerina Bychova in the last piece, Raymonda's Wedding
and as a sort of nymph in a skimpy black tunic in a homage to modern
dance in Go for Barocco. Six dancers in a sort of Health and
Efficiency tribute piece If you understand that Grant
is built like an international standard back row, an ideal No 7 or No 8,
then obviously you pair him with the smallest dancer on stage every
time. Go for Barocco
gives us elements of Olympic walking, a bit of the All Black's Haka and
lots of those intricate twists and turns, in and out, over and
under cat's cradles
all holding hands so beloved of modern dance choreographers. Flames of Paris Pas de Deux
was a little strange in that apart from a few flourishes and flounces it
was almost straight dancing by Yakatarina Verbosovich (Chase Johnsey)
and Andrei Verikose (Boysie Dakobe) who were actually very good. One of the highlights was Ida
Nevasayneva (Paul Ghiselin) who gave us the Dying Swan with a
touch of funky chicken, and probably, as the legs started to wobble,
bird flu thrown in was well – all while shedding feathers through the
complete piece which, incidentally, was done entirely en pointe –
including getting up from a false alarm death. In the final piece Raymonda's
Wedding we had colliding with the scenery, a ballerina in glasses, a
diminutive Dakobe attempting to lift Grant and some quite stunning
dancing from Olga Supphozova (Robert Carter) in a joyous pastiche of
classical ballet. The encore, with mist
billowing across the stage, saw the entire ensemble give us a burst from
Riverdance. You can't beat it. Ballet with
belly laughs. Roger
Clarke
**** WELL done lads! The all-male cast of the
Trocks, as they are affectionately known, deliver a brilliant programme
of ballet brimming with skill, poise and humour on their latest visit to
Brum. And these remarkable men in tights are able
to switch to ballerinas in the flick of a false eyelash, performing as
swans in a version of Swan Lake that has to be seen to be believed. Make no mistake, there is beauty in this
ballet even though the guys have some knockabout moments....like falling
over, crashing into the side of the stage, or even missing a cue or
kicking a colleague. It's choreographed to raise a laugh. Even before curtain up the announcer,
with an outrageous accent, turns on the chuckles by mentioning some of
the key dancers - Ashley Romanoff-Titwillow, Colette Adae, Stanislas
Kokitch and Ivan Legupski. But when the dancers take over you can only
admire their ability to produce movements that even a top ballerina
would be more than happy with. There is an eye-popping scene when the
diminutive Boysie Dakobe dances with and lifts a huge partner, and
another featuring Paul Ghiselin as a feather-shedding, knock-kneed dying
swan. Even in their tutus the lads' legs look great. A standing ovation from a section of the
large audience came before the cast closed the show with a stunning
Irish Riverdance. Fellas....you were fantastic. The men-only
ballet closes on 2.03.11.
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