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| Les Ballet Eloelle in "Swan Lake" |
Presented by Les Ballets Eloelle
Artistic Direction and direction by Victor TrevinoCanberra Theatre 24th October 2018
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
Although the concept of men dancing in tutu’s is
probably as old as ballet itself, it was Les Ballet’s Trocadero de Monte Carlo,
first seen in Australia in the 1970’s, which whetted Australia’s appetite for
men performing classical ballet in drag. Victor Trevino, the founder and
Artistic Director of Les Ballets Eloelle (say it out loud. It’s LOL), danced
with the Trocks, as they became known, for almost ten years, dancing most of
the leading roles with that company, before creating and touring Les Ballets
Grandiva for thirteen years, and most recently, Les Ballets Eloelle.
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| Victor Trevino as "The Dying Swan" |
At 59, Trevino claims to be the oldest ballerina still
regularly performing, and his “Dying Swan” in which the ageing swan leaves a
trail of feathers after her as she tippy-toes en pointe across the stage to die,
is a poignant, and funny, highlight of the current show.
Les Ballets Eloelle remains respectful to classical
traditions. Members of the all-male troupe are all highly trained dancers
recruited from companies like The New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre
and Les Jeune Ballet de France. There’s even an Australian, Natalia Aussiepova
(Shaun Neil Pegoraro), a North Queenslander who studied at WAAPA, in the
current cast.
The Canberra program opened with “Pas De Quatre”,
Perrot’s famous ballet in which four famous ballerinas , Taglioni,
Cerrito,Grisi and Grahn, dressed in graceful long pink tutu’s, vie for
attention. As the curtain rose on the superbly lit opening tableau featuring
the four ballerinas, an audible sigh went around the theatre.
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| Member of Les Ballet Eloelle in "Pas de Quatre" |
Then followed the famous “Le Corsaire” pas de deux, a
favourite showpiece for Fonteyn and Nureyev, and “Go for Barocca” an energetic
piece for 6 dancers, based on a similar Balanchine piece danced to the music of
J.S. Bach. The first half finished with
Victor Trevino’s “Dying Swan”, followed by a necessary interval to clean up the
shed feathers.
The second half of the program is devoted to one of
the company’s signature works, “Swan Lake – Act 11” in which all the best bits
of “Swan Lake”, including the much-loved four little swans dance, are dispensed
with in about 30 hilarious minutes.
During interval an acquaintance dashed over to confide
breathlessly “This is not what I was expecting. It’s like being at the opera
house!” And in a way that’s true, because all the items were surprisingly well
danced, beautifully costumed, with lovely settings that mirror the originals.
The comic value of course relies on the fact that all
the roles, both male and female, are performed by men, and while the emphasis
is definitely on LOL, with the wicked looks, sly smiles and occasional
pratfalls, the surprise is that the
works are also very well danced, impeccably rehearsed with remarkable attention
to detail and execution. The soloists are as technically proficient as many of
their peers in major companies, and while a man in a tutu might elicit laughs,
a man en pointe executing 24 foutes with precision and élan is what sets the
audience cheering.
The heady mix of high art and comedy with loving
sendups of ballet, its manners, conventions and history allows ballet aficionados
to delight in the detail, while the perfectly timed slapstick provides belly
laughs for everyone. Les Ballets Eloelle carries on the tradition proudly and
remains a wonderful guilty pleasure for anyone interested in classical ballet.
Photos provided by Les Ballet Eloelle
