Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo review – all-male hammy parody of Swan Lake — theguardian.com

Founded in 1974 and still going strong, the all-male Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo have become almost as classic as the ballets they perform. Their special mix of travesty, tribute and unselfconscious sincerity appeals to newbies and old hands, and is nowhere more balanced than in their much-loved version of Swan Lake act two. It features plenty of comedy: caricatures of ballet’s bearing and mannerisms; mimed gesticulations like someone obsessively enunciating words in a foreign language; cartoonish gurning timed precisely to the music; pratfalls, missteps. Yet if the ballet’s airs are deflated and illusions unmasked, its magic remains. The deep myth of the story – prince, wizard, bird-woman – still speaks to our souls, Tchaikovsky’s music casts its spell, and the dancers, especially talented Carlos Hopuy as swan-maiden Odette, both lampoon and embody their roles.

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