Jessica and Clara had a lively chat with Joshua Thake, ballet dancer of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (better known on stage as Eugenia Repelskii and Jacques d’Aniels).  Josh revealed what it is like to prepare for roles and travel all over the world with the Trocks.  We discussed why their brand of humor works so well and how the Trocks use certain themes and elements of humor to bring ballets to life.  Naturally, we slipped into a dialog about what qualities make a great dancer connect with their audience.

Visit www.trockadero.org to find where the company is performing in a city near you.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was founded in 1974 by a group of ballet enthusiasts for the purpose of presenting a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet in parody form and en travesti. Les Ballets Trockadero first performed in the late-late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts. Today, the TROCKS, as they are affectionately known, is a Company of professional male dancers performing the full range of the ballet and modern dance repertoire, including classical and original works in faithful renditions of the manners and conceits of those dance styles.

Joshua Thake has been dancing with the Trocks since November of 2011. Originally from Providence, Rhode Island, he received his dance training at the Boston Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, and Brae Crest School of Classical Ballet. Two
of his recurring characters for the Trocks can be described as follows:

EUGENIA REPELSKII

The secrets of Mme Repelskii’s beginnings lie shrouded behind the Kremlin wall. In fact, no fewer than six lie in the wall (in jars of assorted sizes). Dancing lightly over pogroms and other sordid re-organizational measures, Eugenia has emerged as a ballerina nonpareil whose pungency is indisputable. Among her colleagues in the West, she is known as the Odessa Chihuahua.

JACQUES D’ANIELS

Jacques d’Aniels was originally trained as an astronaut before entering the world of ballet. Strong but flexible, good natured but dedicated, sensible but not give to unbelievable flights of fantastic behavior, Mr. d’Aniels is an expert on recovering from ballet injuries (including the dread “Pavlova’s clavicle”).