It was an incredibly fun night with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (affectionately known as The Trocks) as the legendary all-male comic ballet company brought five contrasting works to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre for its 50th anniversary UK tour. Within moments, the theatre was filled with almost non-stop laughter. Like their wonderfully absurd name, The Trocks arrived with elegance, rebellion, and a sharp sense of mischief.
So writes Yuxi Jiang for theQR.co.uk…
The Trocks need little introduction. In a ballet world so often built around grace, discipline, and the luminous image of the ballerina, this all-male company stands out immediately. Rather than rejecting classical ballet, they stand right on top of its grand tradition and gently — or not so gently — shake it. Their work often takes familiar repertory as a reference point, then overturns gender, character, hierarchy and movement expectation through drag, parody and precise comic timing.
The programme included three works rooted in the classical canon — Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake, Act II), Don Quixote Pas de Deux, and The Dying Swan — alongside Go for Barocco and Valpurgeyeva Noch (Walpurgisnacht), both playing with ballet’s neoclassical and mythological worlds.
A balance of recognisable ballet with comedy
What The Trocks do so well is balance recognisable ballet with comedy. For those who know the original works, the shapes, music and atmosphere are still there. But inside that familiar frame, the company inserts beautifully timed disruptions: a wrong arm, a delayed entrance, an expressive glance, a swan who simply refuses to behave. In traditional ballet, mistakes are usually hidden. Here, they become part of the scene, and often the most creative part.
This was especially clear in Le Lac des Cygnes, where the famous swans weren’t a tragic, unified flock so much as a gaggle of individual drama queens that sometimes failed to stay together. The comedy worked because the dancers clearly understood what the “correct” version should look like, then allowed each tiny deviation to become part of the scene. In the post-show talk, Associate Artistic Director Raffaele Morra mentioned that the trick is to let the dancers “do it in your own way, and believe in it.” As a result, ballet suddenly felt less severe, less untouchable, and much more available to be laughed with.
The Trocks are not simply “funny ballet”.
But The Trocks are not simply “funny ballet”. None of this would land without impressive technique, of which the evening had plenty. Don Quixote Pas de Deux was a real treat, with strong turns, balances and pointe work, while still slipping in fan-flirting, gender reversals and a deliciously funny “female-strong / male-fragile” dynamic. Go for Barocco was another delight, turning Balanchine-like plotless elegance into something unexpectedly theatrical. The striking height difference between the two dancers became a source of comedy, while their crossings of the stage transformed the usual refined ballet walk into a deliberately mannered, camp little strut. Then came The Dying Swan, or perhaps the swan who did not really want to die. Feather-shedding, trembling, and dramatically lingering, the piece turned tragic fragility into stubborn comic survival.
Clever, technically strong and properly funny.
The evening closed with the lavish Valpurgeyeva Noch, full of mythological poses, theatrical excess and Trockadero mischief. Just when the curtain calls to be wrapping up, the company offered one final surprise: a burst of Highland dancing that sent the Scottish audience into another wave of delight.
Overall, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo offer a night that is clever, technically strong and properly funny. They do not mock ballet from the outside; they expose its seriousness from within, with affection and skill. If you are looking for something light-hearted but still high-quality in form, The Trocks are absolutely worth catching. They will surprise you with their pointe work, comic timing, dramatic exits — and yes, some truly fabulous legs.
They do not mock ballet from the outside; they expose its seriousness from within, with affection and skill.
Featured Image: The Trocks – Walpurgisnacht – photo Jim Coleman
Details
Show: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Venue: Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Dates: Tuesday, June 16 – Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Running Time: 2 hours (approx)
Age Guidance: Parental Discretion
Admission: £25 – £46.50
Time: 7:30 PM
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible with level access to the box office, a flat-floor street entrance, passenger lifts servicing all floors, and level access to all wheelchair spaces in the Stalls.
By
By
