I'm meant to be sending in some job applications, but today has been really bleh so I'll blog about The Trocks instead.
I saw The Trocks perform quite a few years back^, but when I noticed how cheap the tickets were selling for stall seats in Belfast, I could'nt not watch them again. For the price I paid for stalls here, I would have only gotten seats in – at best – Circle 2 back home.
I love the cover photo of The Trocks' programme, as it conveys everything about the company in this one picture of one of the founders and current ballet master - grace, elegance, poise, and underarm hair. Yes, The Trocks are an all male ballet troupe, don't really hide their masculinity, have awesome makeup skills, are hilarious and great fun to watch, and in certain respects are just as elegant as female ballerinas*.
While it was such an experience watching The Trocks from up close – the tickets are absolutely worth it as their facial expressions are key to the comic effect – the highlights for me were the open rehearsal before the show and the post-performance Q&A session. All that I will share below is what I learnt from those two extras.
The Trocks are on tour a lot, and their practices and rehearsals are all done while on the road. Before each show, they spend some time doing class (going through allegros, turns, etc), then run through some of the dances that will be performed that night, as well as some of those that will be performed at the next venue. For example, we were treated to a rough cut (but still very good!) of the famous Don Quixote pas de deux, which I've never seen them do before. It was fun trying to remember the faces of all the dancers and the positions they took during rehearsal and then trying to recognise them in the evening with all their makeup on.
I learnt that professional male dancers only take about a day to get used to dancing in pointe shoes – a shockingly short time given the difficulty that I face in my futile attempts at anything – because their feet and muscles are already very well developed and used to the movements.
I realised that a good number of their dancers are from Spain and Italy, although they're a New York-based company.
I was impressed by the knowledge that all the dancers are expected to know the steps to all the parts, as the roles are rotated among the dancers (except for the Dying Swan). This means that there is no competition among the dancers to score the title roles.
I was treated to the surreal sight of half the troupe of professional dancers (that's 8 of them) doing as many fouette turns as they could (the target the teacher set was at least 16), followed by the next half, then the first half, and then the second half again. I can't remember if they went for the pirouettes a third time, but oh. my. goodness. I couldn't breathe from the excitement of how special and once-in-a-lifetime that was.
Also, I found out that there isn't really any trick to making the feathers of the Dying Swan fall on cue – if their Artistic Director is to be believed – except stuffing lots of loose feathers between the many layers of tulle in the tutu. I was also informed – to my shock, horror and utmost admiration – that their ballet teacher, who was en pointe for the entire duration of the Dying Swan piece, has been doing this for more than 20 years and continues to do it today at the grand age of 52.
(O_O)
Indeed.
* * * * * *
^: I can't for the life of me remember whether that was back in Singapore, or a long time ago when I was on exchange in London.
*: I'll share what their artistic director said in response to a question posed to him about the difference between men dancing en pointe and women dancing en pointe. He said that it's like tennis; while Steffi Graf had finesse, Andre Agassi had lots of strength.
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