ABSTRACT
While men have probably been dancing on their toes ever since the pointe shoe was developed in the 1830s, the first company of men performing as ballerinas en pointe occurred on August 31,1972, at the tiny Jean Cocteau Theatre in New York City’s East Village. Led by Larry Ree (Madame Ekathrina Sobechanskaya), the five men in the Trockadero Gloxinia Ballet Company sought to evoke the glamour of late-nineteenthcentury Russian ballet. Armed with more attitude than dance technique, the Gloxinia nevertheless attracted a following. In 1974, three members of the troupe, chafing under the restricted aesthetic of the Gloxinia (their ballets never contained male characters), decided to form their own troupe. Established by Peter Anastos (b. 1948), Antony Bassae (1943-1985), and Natch Taylor (b. 1948), Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo made its debut at the Westside Discussion Group, a homophile organization on West 14th Street.
