Meet the Trocks: Men, Tutus and Talent

Jokes are everywhere, even in fake ballerina names -- dancer Joshua Grant goes by "Katerina Bitchkova."

The Trocks have performed their comedic all-male ballet in dozens of cities around the world.

(Courtesy Sascha Vaughan)
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And at six-foot-four, Katerina -- er, Grant -- makes for one tall woman.

"The big Trockadero joke is tall girl-short boy, so a lot of times I get partnered as a girl with the short, teeny tiny boy comes up to my chest so it's hard to balance en pointe," Grant said.

Grant said his dance partners may not be able to lift him up, "but I'll let them hold me on my leg."

More Than Just Jokes

Then there are the jokes only ballet aficionados would appreciate. The troupe's full name -- Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo -- is a play on old Russian ballet companies.

But the jokes play, and play well, all over the world -- more than 200 shows a year to sold-out houses. This month they even performed for The Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla.

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"It was amazing," Grant said. "I still haven't washed my hands since shaking hands with them."

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Trocks isn't their success, their attitude or even their Adam's apples. It is their dancing ability. They are really good.

"I think they're expecting, nothing of what they actually get," dancer Robert Carter said. "We're men, they know that we're dressing up and going to be wearing make up and wigs and tutus and point shoes. I don't believe they expect the level of artistry and skill that we have."

Carter trained with the Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet. But his dream was always to join the Trocks.

"I didn't want to be a girl, but I knew I could do a lot of the same stuff and some of the stuff they couldn't do because I had the strength being a boy," he said. "I could do the stuff en pointe and it's fun."

En pointe puts the dancers up on their toes -- something men generally don't do in ballet. But there's a lot that men generally don't do in ballet that the Trocks do.

And it's more than just hilarious -- it's hilariously impressive.