New York Ballet's Men in Tutus comes to South Africa

Men in Tutu's is technical brilliance, tongue-in-cheek humour, and a passion for classical and contemporary ballet.

“Male ballerina” is usually a term used in error made by a rookie arts writer. However, Les Ballets Eloelle, led by founder, Artistic Director and lead dancer Victor Trevino, features – as one of the few all-male comedy ballet companies in the world – a troupe of such dancers: men dancing roles traditionally reserved for women.

The comedy aspect of “Men In Tutus” – clever, affectionate parody of the ballet canon, both classical and contemporary via the dancers’ hilarious female personae – never undermines either the challenges of performing the complex choreography or the exceptional results, which make the show so thrilling to watch.

As Trevino explains: “Men do not traditionally train in pointe shoes. We tend to be heavier, with our weight distributed differently to female dancers. Women generally begin training in dancing on pointe when they are young; about 11 years old, while men are not encouraged to do so, as there’s very little opportunity to use that skill in classical dance.”

“Men In Tutus” features dancers from the US, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, the Philippines, Australian, Colombia, the Isle of Wight and Japan, underlining the global appeal of ballet, dance and comedy.

Of course, whatever the cultural backgrounds and experience of these dancers – who have trained at revered institutions like the New York Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Berlin State Opera Ballet, the

English National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and the Hong Kong Ballet – they’re also on stage to entertain!

The cast includes Walter Battistini, Ivan Felix, Jimmy Lumba, Jhonatan Mendez, Victor Maguad, Joel Morris (an ex-South African Ballet Theatre star), Ian Ocampo, Eugene Obille, Shaughn Neil Pegoraro, Joseph Phillips, Tetsushi Segawa and Wataru Tokue.