The Trocks Return to Houston, Kicking Off Pride with Pointe Shoes and Punchlines

There’s ballet, and then there’s Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Dubbed “The Trocks,” this all-male comedy ballet troupe fuses drag artistry with rigorous classical technique and skill, making high art hilariously accessible and gloriously queer. As part of their 50th anniversary celebration, The Trocks return to Houston for two performances on June 26 and 27 at the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater, presented by Performing Arts Houston. It’s a golden milestone, perfectly timed to light up Pride Month with pointe shoes, pas de deux, and punchlines.

“We are a drag performance,” artistic director Tory Dobrin affirms. “What we do is more theater drag,” which is the type of drag easily associated with Shakespearen comedies. While some may attempt to categorize their performances solely as satire or camp, The Trocks have always done more than mock ballet. In fact, they expand, challenge, and lovingly skewer it from within. “We’re an all-male comedy ballet company that uses drag as part of the comedy,” Dobrin explains. “Starting at least 15 years ago or so, Trockadero actually became a career option for young dancers. In my time, because we were already older, people were telling us not to do this, and that it was not a good thing. Even the National Endowment of the Arts was very hostile toward us.”

Founded in 1974, The Trocks emerged from the downtown New York queer art scene before they made it onto prestigious stages around the world. Dobrin notes that this 50th-anniversary tour has been an especially gratifying victory lap. “We’ve been all around the United States, including the Kennedy Center.” This tour has included trips to Japan, Germany, the Detroit Opera House, and even performing Jacob’s Pillow, which is recognized as a hub and mecca for dancing.

“We revived a lot of the ballets from the early years,” Dobrin says. “Some of the present dancers hadn’t danced these ballets before, so it was really nice to pull them back together and revisit them.”

Japan holds a unique place in the company’s history. “Actually, I have to say that Japan kept us alive,” Dobrin reveals. “Starting in 1982, we would do these long 40-performance tours every summer. Japan was a really good fit due to their big dance boom and being totally fine with drag and gay and lesbian issues. We had a fan club of several thousand, mostly girls. They all knew the guys were gay, but they didn’t care.”

While many Asian nations are stereotyped as socially conservative, Dobrin points out that theatrical drag traditions like kabuki and Chinese opera made audiences in Japan particularly receptive. “There’s a whole other segment of the population there which is more ‘out there’ than we are here in the United States,” he explains. “That is the group that we attract.”

This month, Houston audiences can expect a program that spans The Trocks’ greatest hits. “We’re doing Swan Lake Act II, of course. We’re doing a modern work by Seán Curran, and one of our big Bolshoi-style ballets called Walpurgisnacht.” There’s even a revival of Stars and Stripes Forever, a parody of George Balanchine’s patriotic ballet that channels pageantry, precision, and protest. “It uses John Philip Sousa music, which, of course, is associated with the military,” says Dobrin. “We were going to do it when Hillary Clinton was to be elected, but obviously she didn’t get elected. So we actually dropped it because we didn’t want to seem like we were supporting anything that had to do with that other administration.”

Still, Dobrin is quick to note that The Trocks don’t come with any heavy-handed messages. “People come into the theater to enjoy themselves, laugh, and have fun,” he says. “A lot of theater wants to have messages these days, but people don’t want to spend their money being messaged.”

That said, the Trocks’ impact on visibility, especially in less progressive regions, can’t be overstated. “In the ’80s, we traveled to places like Owensboro, Kentucky; Bowling Green, Ohio, and we did a grand tour of Montana and Arkansas,” Dobrin remembers. “We’re not a gay show per se, but there’s tons of gay sensibility in it. And I feel like we did contribute to opening up society in certain places.”

Dobrin also credits the troupe’s appeal to its diversity of style and cast. “The guys who are in the Trockadero, they’re basically funny guys,” he says. “They’re comedians.” The company has a whole library of jokes that they circulate, but depending on who’s dancing what role at any given show, the performance feels truly fresh. “One night, the Swan Queen might be Jake, and another night it’s Bobby. They do it totally differently,” adds Dobrin.

The Houston performances promise that same freshness, fun, and flair—in addition to serious skill. “Audiences should come expecting to laugh and have a good time,” says Dobrin. “And also walk away saying, ‘Hey, these guys are really good dancers.’”

Dobrin encourages Houstonians, and those visiting for Pride festivities, to make The Trocks part of their celebratory plans. “You can bring everybody. You can bring your parents, grandparents, children, your partners,” he says. “Go out and have dinner, a drink, and come and see The Trocks and really enjoy yourself. And then hit the bars afterwards, if you want.”

Amidst a politically fraught landscape and tightening arts budgets, The Trocks remain undeterred. “We’re organizing our 2027 touring in the United States right now, and have already lost two dates because of the administration,” Dobrin admits. “I’m just hoping that the Trockadero, and also everyone else, will get through this period and come out on the other side. That’s my big push. Of course, we always want to do new ballets and things like that. But survival is key now.”

Luckily for audiences, there’s no better way to resist than through laughter, beauty, and men en pointe! For 50 years, The Trocks have twirled through adversity, transforming ballet into a beacon of queerness, joy, and liberation. Their Houston stop is more than a performance, it’s a celebration not to be missed.

WHAT: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
WHEN: June 26–27, 2025
WHERE: Cullen Theater at the Wortham Center
INFO:  performingartshouston.org