All-male ballet troupe 'The Trocks' to perform at Lied Center Feb. 5

The all-male dance troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, also known as "The Trocks," will bring hilarious twists on classics such as "Swan Lake" and "Giselle" to the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St., at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5.

Tickets are available at http://liedcenter.org, by phone at 402-472-4747 or at the box office. Tickets are available to students at a 50 percent discount with a valid NCard.

Founded in 1974 by a group of ballet enthusiasts to present a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet in parody form and en travesti, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo first performed in the late-late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts. The Trocks quickly garnered a major critical essay by Arlene Croce in The New Yorker which, combined with reviews in The New York Times and The Village Voice, established the company as an artistic and popular success.

By mid-1975, the Trocks were gaining attention beyond New York. Articles and notices in publications such as Variety, Oui, The London Daily Telegraph, as well as a Richard Avedon photo essay in Vogue, made the company nationally and internationally known. Since then, the Trocks have established themselves as a major dance phenomenon, appearing in more than 30 countries and 500 cities.

The original concept of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has not changed. It is a company of professional male dancers performing the full range of the ballet and modern dance repertoire, including classical and original works. The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents and underlying incongruities of serious dance. The fact that men dance all the parts -- heavy bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic princesses or angst-ridden Victorian ladies -- enhances, rather than mocks, the spirit of dance as an art form, delighting audiences.

Writer: Carrie Christensen, Lied Center for Performing Arts