The Humour in Dance

Making light of serious things, even the most sacrosanct, is a way to acknowledge greatness. To let air in, lighten the weight of tradition and contemplate another point of view of what we believed to know so well. Each production by the Les Ballets Trockadero is a refreshing revision of stereotypes and the most academic codes of dance. The company was founded in New York by classical ballet dancers, and for more than 50 years, it has been complicating things for the standard repertoire. The show the troupe brings to the Teatro de la Maestranza is a good example of the legendary irreverence of the “Trocks”.

The programme includes four choreographies based on four works of reference to mock the conventions of classical and romantic ballet. Its versions of Swan Lake, Go for Barocco (to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach), The Dying Swan, and Paquita, the classic of Minkus/Petipa, are satires that transform and transfigure the model. So that the parody succeeds, it is vital to have an exhaustive knowledge of the original piece, a technique that demands the highest level, and a total love of dance. Along with the complicity of an audience that is prepared to laugh about the most sacred. Sheer entertainment.


Swan Lake
Choreography: Lev Ivanovich Ivanov
Music: Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
Costume Design: Mike Gonzales
Stage Design: Clio Young
Lighting: Kip Marsh

Go For Barocco
Choreography: Peter Anastos
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Costume Design: Mike Gonzales
Lighting: Kip Marsh

The Dying Swan
Choreography: Michel Fokine
Music: Camille Saint-Saëns
Costume Design: Mike Gonzales

Paquita
Choreography: Elena Kunikova sobre Marius Petipa
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Costume Design: Mike Gonzales
Lighting and Stage Design: Kip Marsh