The world’s foremost all-male comic ballet company.
Raffaele Morra is Les Ballets Trockadero’s Ballet Master, teaching artist, and a dancer. He began his studies in classical ballet in his hometown of Fossano Italy in 1986, becoming a member of the “Compagnia di Danza del Teatro Nuovo” in 1994, and joining the Trockadero in 2001. With the Trocks, he has danced a variety of leading male and female roles, including Odette, Prince Siegried, Von Rothbar and Benno in “Swan Lake;” Giselle, Myrtha, and Prince Albrecht in “Giselle;” and has choreographed works including “Majisimas,” a parody of the ballet “Majisimo” by Cuban choregrapher Jorge Garcia. As Ballet Master since 2015, he is responsible for teaching the repertoire to new dancers, re-staging ballets from the vast library, running rehearsals, and teaching master classes. He has set ballets for Les Ballets Trockadero including “La Naiade and le Pecheur” (Pugni, Perrot) and “Napoli Pas de six” (Helsted/Paulli, Bournonville) and teaches extensively on tour.
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, Les Ballets Trockadero first performed in the late-late shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts. The TROCKS, as they are affectionately known, quickly garnered a major critical essay by Arlene Croce in The New Yorker, and combined with reviews in The New York Times and The Village Voice, established the Company as an artistic and popular success. By mid 1975, the TROCKS’ inspired blend of their loving knowledge of dance, their comic approach, and the astounding fact that men can, indeed, dance en pointe without falling flat on their faces, was being noted beyond New York. Articles and notices in publications such as Variety, Oui, The London Daily Telegraph, as well as a Richard Avedon photo essay in Vogue, made the Company nationally and internationally known.
The class is free, but registration required. Please bring a completed photography release form with you to the class. Minors must also bring a completed waiver.