COURTESY LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO
Boys will be ballerinas in the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo troupe.
Men in tights
Laughs are in store when the
Trockadero ballet troupe performs
Dressed in tutu and adorned with sparkly tiaras, the ballerinas of Les Ballets Trockadero will take flight at Hawaii Theatre in such works as "Swan Lake" this weekend.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
All-male ballet presented by Ballet HawaiiWhere: Hawaii Theatre
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Admission: $25, $40 and $55
Call: 528-0506
But wait, is that hair peeking out from the bosom of that frilly costume?
The "Trocks" just happen to be an all-male ballet troupe, who blend the techniques of dance with comedy.
"The nature of a man putting on a tutu, wig and big eyelashes is inherently funny," said Paul Ghiselin, whose alter ego is Ida Nevasayneva, who portrays "The Dying Swan."
A big, muscular body tiptoeing on tiny pointe shoes across the stage is bound to get a laugh, he said. "We really fill up the stage with movement."
The troupe started out as a minimally trained drag ensemble about 30 years ago. Today, its membership comprises accomplished dancers. "It's like the traditional Russian ballet of the '50s and '60s -- old world style of ballet," said Ghiselin, who danced with the Ohio State Ballet for 13 years before joining the Les Ballets Trockadero.
"It was my last chance ... to do one more thing before retiring," he said. "We get to travel to incredible places."
It's a hectic schedule as the troupe is on the road about 40 weeks a year, and has performed in more than 500 cities worldwide. This will be its first visit to Hawaii.
"We are huge in Japan. We're bigger than Madonna," Ghiselin said, noting that in Japan kabuki theater, men traditionally play women's' roles, so it is something that they are already accustomed to.
Ghislein said he was also interested in joining the company from an acting standpoint. Since its early days, Les Ballets Trockadero have participated in dance festivals in Holland, Madrid, New York, Paris, Spoleto and Vienna, and have also appeared on television shows such as "Muppet Babies" and a Shirley MacLaine special. The troupe has also been featured in solo specials on national networks in Japan and Germany.
"I definitely have a character, everyone does," he said. "I put on a tiara and become so much more."
COURTESY LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO That character is a haughty gal. "She is looking down her nose at everyone else," he said. "She is quite neurotic."
Other characters are silly and bubbly. "It is an extension of someone's personality," he added. "Individuality can really take off and you are allowed to shine," he said.
Others in the company are:
>> Fifi Barkova, known as the Odessa Chihuahua among her colleagues in the West.In spite of their numbers, there is not much room for diva-ish behavior, Ghiselin said. "It's a class clown type of thing. It can get crazy, but everyone is very professional.
>> Ludmila Beaulemova, a born-again ballerina.
>> Maria Gertrudes Clubfoot, the last of the great American Indian ballerinas who began her training with the Wounded Knee Ballet.
>> Lariska Dumbchenko, the first ballerina to be shot into orbit.
>> Sveltlana Lofatkina, known for her portrayal of sensitive tortured neurotic ladies and other kvetches.
>> Veronika Malaise du Mer, who began her career as a doorstop at the Moulin Rouge.
>> Vera Namethatunenova, discovered by kindly peasants adrift in a basket on the river Neva and director of the Ecole de Ballet de Hard-Nox.
>> Nadia Rombova, incandescent bel canto soprano turned translucent bella danza ballerina.
>> Yurika Sakitumi, who studied at the feet of the famous Yojimbo at the Kamikaze Institute.
>> Gerd Tord, the Prune Danish of Russian Ballet.
"Everyone works hard and we switch roles a lot. The repertoire ranges from "Don Quixote" to "Swan Lake" to a revival of "Stars & Stripes Forever," and includes choreography by Merce Cunningham, Robert La Fosse and Agnes de Mille.
COURTESY LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo performs its version of "Swan Lake".
For Ghiselin, learning to dance en pointe was an adjustment. "Some guys can pick it up really fast. We have an understanding of ballet and the technique is in our bodies," he explained. "Men just use their bodies differently."
The members of the troupe are not trying to emulate women. "We never lose sight of the fact that we are men," he said. "We take big manly steps as well as dainty ballerina steps."
The laugh-rousing teetering pirouettes and on-stage collisions are a testament to that factor.
Steve Knox, executive director of Ballet Hawaii added, "The fact that men dance all the parts -- heavy bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic princesses, angst-ridden Victorian ladies -- enhances rather than mocks the spirit of dance as an art form, delighting and amusing the most knowledgeable, as well as novices, in the audiences."
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