By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

One word sets Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo apart from most other ballet troupes: Testosterone.

The all-male company, often referred to as “The Trocks,” makes its first Chicago appearance in many years Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive. The company is performing Act II from “Swan Lake,” as well as scenes from other ballets.

The performance benefits AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

The Trocks lists among the fictional dancers on its rosters “Maria Gertrudes Clubfoot, the last of the great American Indian ballerinas”; “Lariska Dumbchenko, whose supreme agility enabled her to become the first ballerina shot into orbit”; and “Sveltlana Lofatkina, otherwise known as ‘The Chernobyl Cherub.’”

These dance divas are embodied by a company of about 10-12 male dancers who perform in a changing repertoire of 50 different ballets, in pieces originally choreographed by Merce Cunningham and Agnes DeMille, among others.

“We mix and match. Since we haven’t been to Chicago in many years, I think we’re doing our best program,” said Tory Dobrin, the Trocks’ artistic director since 1994.

According to Dobrin, many of the conventions about the parts that men and women dance in ballet were born from tradition, and there’s no reason why a talented male dancer can’t step into a female part.

“No one said that a man can’t dance en pointe,” he said.

Dobrin started dancing with the Trocks in 1980, and said he wasn’t intimidated by dancing in drag when he began with the company. “I grew up in West Hollywood,” he said.

What was most disconcerting, however, was the sheer volume of extra clothing a female dancer has to wear.

“Male dancers don’t have to wear so much. I felt like a mummy at first,” Dobrin said.

But he added that, clothing aside, a Trocks dancer does not have to undergo that much special training to take on the female parts.

“It’s like tennis. Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi’s training wasn’t that different from one another’s either,” Dobrin said.

The Trocks dancers have a rehearsal schedule not unlike those of other companies.

“Every day, we have classes, than a rehearsal period. And when we arrive at a new theater, we have to ‘space’ the ballets on each stage. It’s an intense job and a lot of hard work,” Dobrin said.

It took quite a few years for the ballet world to get the Trocks’ brand of humor. Dobrin said the troupe, in its early years, was derided by other ballet professionals who resented both the all-male cast and the jabs they made at ballet conventions.

“Now, 30 years later, we’ve outlived many dance companies out there,” Tobrin added.

In those early years, anti-gay protestors would often picket their performances. Dobrin remembered a fundamentalist Christian interrupting a performance in Oregon to proclaim that the troupe was responsible for Mount St. Helen’s eruption.

“We haven’t had anything like that for years,” Dobrin said, noting that parents quite frequently bring their whole family now. “Our longivity and success speaks volumes,” he added.

For tickets to see Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo’s performance in Chicago Jan. 17 ($40-$75), call (312) 334-7777 or visit www.harristheaterchicago.org.