Biographical/historical: 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. It remains 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. The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents, and underlying incongruities of serious dance. The fact that men dance all the parts–heavy bodies balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic princesses, angst-ridden Victorian ladies–enhances rather than mocks the spirit of dance as an art form. The TROCKS, as the Company is informally known, first performed in late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts, rapidly gained international popularity with their comic take on the classics. Their repertoire later broadened to take in 20th-century choreographers such as Balanchine, Cunningham, and Robbins. Far from being a pure comic act, they have acquired cult status among balletomanes for their respect for the traditional Russian repertoire, and their commitment to its classical style, even as they parody sylphs and swans in man-sized tutus and pointe shoes.