24

TUESDAY

It all began in Manhattan’s meat-packing district, appropriately enough. Armed with both humor and hairy chests, the gentlemen of the New York-based company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo first donned tutus and tiaras nearly 30 years ago, in the hope of enlivening the stodgy world of ballet with a healthy dose of drag. Assuming such campy alter-egos as Yurika Sakitumi and Jacques d’ Ambrosia, the troupe reinterprets classic pieces such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and, of course, The Nutcracker. Laugh, you may, but only at the dancers’ deliberately outrageous antics: The Trocks are so flawless in terms of form and technique that the sight of pectoral cleavage spilling out of frilly costumes soon becomes an afterthought, and the focus becomes the grace and beauty with which the gender-bending ballets are executed. Do your part to keep the makers of special-order pointe shoes in business at 8 p.m. at the McLean Community Center’s Alden Theatre, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. $30. (703) 790-0123. (Sarah Godfrey)