Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Joyce Theater, August 17-23, 1998.LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male drag ballet corps parodying the clichés of romantic and classical ballet. It was founded by choreographer Peter Anastos in the United States in 1974 as a group producing small shows for friends, performing late-late shows in JOYCE THEATER AUGUST 17-23, 1998 REVIEWED BY ROSE ANNE THOM It is possible, when delighting in the ramrod verticality of pique turns performed by Margeaux Mundeyn (Yonny Manaure), the subtle shading of epaulement by Olga Supphozova (Robert Carter), or the perfectly arched foot of Ida Nevasayneva (Paul Ghiselin), to forget that the ballerinas of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo are men. When they achieve this perfection of classical form, or even when their concentration is markedly fixed on the dancing, what they do transcends travesty. But it is difficult to know if the audience appreciates those moments or if it prefers the campy imitation of mannerisms and the embellishment of balletic cliches that are a signature of the company's style. At its best the company finds a balance between the two. In Elena Kunikova's staging of Arthur Saint-Leon's 1844 ballet, La Vivandiere vi·van·dière n. A woman who accompanies troops to sell them food, supplies, and liquor. [French, feminine of vivandier, from Old French, alteration (influenced by Medieval Latin , a New York premiere, the gentle tilt of the ballerinas' heads and their delicately rounded port de bras port de bras n. The technique or practice of positioning and moving the arms in ballet. exuded romanticism. And the buoyant fast footwork and traveling enchainements, replete with bounding leaps, conveyed the spirit of mid-nineteenth-century allegro. However, principal dancer Svetlana Lofatkina's exaggerated extensions contradicted the sweet modesty of this style. Most of the humor in this ballet was generated by the disparate sizes of Lofatkina (Lev Radchenko) at six feet and her five-foot-tall danseur, Igor Slowpokin (Manolo Molina), something that did not distract them in the least. Supporting his ballerina in a developpe dé·vel·op·pé n. A ballet movement in which one leg is raised to the knee of the supporting leg and fully extended. [French, from past participle of développer, to develop; see develop.] a la seconde, Slowpokin then circled her, elegantly passing beneath her extended leg. Stars & Stripes Forever, seen here for the first time in its full version, was an inspired reduction of George Balanchine's Stars and Stripes Stars and Stripes nickname for the U.S. flag. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 8567] See : America . Robert La Fosse, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet New York City Ballet, one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. , choreographed the work, effectively transposing essential Balanchineisms but investing the ballet with its own vitality. In the First Campaign, the company of giddy majorettes Majorettes are girls who used to demonstrate choreography during parades. Unlike baton twirling performers, they are seen as a show rather than a sport. They are usually seen as the European equivalent of cheerleaders. marched in and out of the familiar inverted triangle in beguiling, parallel piques passes. And whenever they came off pointe, their steps were initiated by the proverbial hips thrust forward. La Fosse's pas de deux pas de deux (French; “step for two”) Dance for two performers. A characteristic part of classical ballet, it includes an adagio, or slow dance, by the ballerina and her partner; solo variations by the male dancer and then the ballerina; and a coda, or , alluding to Balanchine but with a choreographic vitality of its own, balanced technical demands and choreographic invention in the liveliest duet on the program. It was a perfect vehicle for the arch performance of Supphozova, partnered by an alternately rambunctious and petrified pet·ri·fy v. pet·ri·fied, pet·ri·fy·ing, pet·ri·fies v.tr. 1. To convert (wood or other organic matter) into a stony replica by petrifaction. 2. Mikolojus Vatissneyn (Kenneth Busbin). The Second Campaign, in which Lofatkina managed that infamous deep plie on pointe in Second Position, concluded the ballet with flashing lights, an American flag, grands battements, grands battements, and more grands battements. Also on the program were Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II), Alexander Gorsky's Grand Pas Classique, and an "After Fokine" version of The Dying Swan. |
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