Celebrating its 50th anniversary season in 2024, 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 parity form and en travesti. The Trocks, as they are affectionately known, first performed at the loft of the West Side Discussion Group, and quickly garnered a major critical essay in the New Yorker, which established the company as an artistic and popular success. By mid 1975, the Trocks’ inspired blend of a loving knowledge of dance with a comic approach, alongside the astounding fact that men can, indeed, dance en pointe without falling flat on their faces, was being noted beyond New York.

Since those beginnings, the Trocks have established themselves as a major dance phenomenon throughout the world – their frenzied annual schedule has included appearances in over 35 countries and over 600 cities worldwide since its founding. 

As its 50th birthday approaches, the company remains cutting edge by boldly defining conventional, gender classification and breaking down preconceptions of ballet through their unique blend of satire in spectacle. The original concept of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has not changed over the decades. It is a company of professional male dancers performing the full range of the classical ballet and modern dance repertoire. The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents, and underlying incongruities of serious dance. For the future, there are plans for new works, new cities, states and countries to perform in. And for the continuation of the Trocks original purpose: to bring the pleasure of dance to the widest possible audience. They will, as they have done for 50 years, ‘Keep on Trockin’.