American Masters: Ballerina Boys

Photo: Trocks performing "Swan Lake." Kevin Garcia (center).

Credit: Courtesy of Merrywidow Films LLC Photographer credit: Laura Nespol

A portrait of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (“The Trocks”), an all-male ballet company and international dance sensation.

For over 45 years the company has shared its signature style and message of equality, inclusion, and social justice with audiences around the world. The men perform classical ballet en pointe and in drag, challenging the art form’s rigid gender norms as they mix rigorous technique with comedy and satire. Inspired by the Stonewall Riots of 1969, the company was fueled by the spirit of defiance and creative exuberance that the gay rights movement unleashed. The film follows The Trocks on tour in the Carolinas, an epicenter of continued struggles for LGBTQ rights. American Masters: Ballerina Boys airs Friday, June 23 at 8:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV.