Community members flocked to the Osterhout Concert Theater on Saturday to attend Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, a male comedic ballet company that has been performing en travesti — drag — since its founding in 1974. The ballet company has garnered both critical success and a dedicated audience with its playful parodies of well-known pieces.

The Trockaderos, or the “Trocks” as they are also known, engage in a kind of “character-ception.” These performers are not just playing the characters of the piece they are performing — they are also taking on a dancer’s persona. Takaomi Yoshino does not just play the Queen of the Swans, they play as Varvara Laptopova — a dancer who is credited within the program as being “awarded for her artistic misinterpretation.” Each performer takes on a specific kind of personality that affects how they perform each of the piece’s roles.

Giovanni Pesce, a Binghamton resident, said that he felt inspired by the show.

“I thought it was amazing,” Pesce said. “When you step back from it all and look at all the dancers, you kind of realize how arbitrary gender is. Being a queer person, seeing this dismantling of binary parts — something about that is just really beautiful.”

The night began with Le Lac des Cygnes, or Swan Lake, Act II. The set design was elaborate, featuring a backdrop of a mountain and a lake as the evil wizard Von Rothbart cast a spell that ushered in a giant cloud of smoke. This piece combined incredible technique and storytelling with comedic elements that kept the audience delighted. A recurring comedic gag of this piece was all of the swans disliking Prince Siegfried’s friend, Benno, who they continuously deny the advances of and even beat up on stage. The Trocks’ reimagining of Swan Lake featured incidents of musical cues gone awry, where in one instance the Prince did his starting position across the entire stage waiting for his music to begin — only to be forced to give up and leave. Other examples were dancers that were out of formation and one performer who embodied the classic “hi, mom!” archetype — dedicated to waving at the audience whenever they got the chance.

After an intermission, the curtains opened again to feature three shorter pieces.

The group dance told the story of two people in love. Or at least, it tried to. For this piece, the comedy came from one of the ensemble members, who was determined to outshine the leading lady. From mimicking the lead’s moves behind her as she performed what was meant to be a solo section, to getting in between the two leads to prevent them from dancing together, audiences were laughing the entire time as they watched.

A pas de deux afterward featured moments such as the male character getting lifted by the woman character, as well as a cartwheel. All in all, those two just seemed really happy to be there.

Following the pas de deux, all of the stage lights turned off and a single spotlight took its place. Laughter echoed throughout the concert hall as the spotlight then began a slow pan across the stage, looking for the dancer it was supposed to be highlighting. As the music started, the spotlight started frantically searching for the performer until it finally landed on them a couple of moments later. The Queen of the Swans had returned to perform her final goodbye. Feathers rained out of her tutu as she dramatically passed away on stage.

The final performance of the night was Majisimas, a Spanish-inspired piece. Señoras and Señors took the stage by storm as they played with the more passionate form of ballet.

Overall, the Trocks put on a mesmerizing and hilarious performance. The comedic aspect never felt overdone, and every joke and misstep was carefully thought out and planned. Susan Mulroy, a former ballerina from Oneonta, New York, was particularly impressed.

“I really enjoyed [the performance],” Mulroy said. “It’s hard to be a good dancer and make mistakes on purpose. That’s difficult to do.”

The costumes in particular were notable. Every costume was unique, visually alluring and fitting for its respective character — from the rainfall of feathers from the Swan Queens tutu to the layers and pop of color in the Señora’s skirts.

Jesse La Scala, a sophomore double-majoring in environmental studies and women, gender and sexuality studies, was very impressed by this aspect of the show.

“I want to give the costume designer a kiss on the mouth,” La Scala said. “Literally, the costumes were so good. The makeup, the costumes, the hair, the wigs, everything — on point.”

The Trocks have managed to find the perfect balance between showing off their impeccable technique and lifting the atmosphere with their comedic timing. This is a perfect ballet for beginners to the scene and longtime viewers alike.