IN A TIGHTS SITUATION

On April 19, the ballerinas Maya Thickenthighya, Iona Trailer, Ida Nevasayneva, Fifi Barkova and other members of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo will perform some of the world's best-known classical ballets at Southeast Missouri State University. The main difference between these classically trained dancers and the ballerinas of the Joffrey Ballet or the American Ballet Theatre is that the Trocks, as they are known, are all men.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo bills itself as the world's foremost all-male comic ballet company. The New York-based Trocks spoof the pretensions and gestures of classical ballet and other dance forms while performing the dances with a skill that has been impressing critics and filling concert halls around the world for nearly three decades.

The Trocks will be the featured performers at the Central Region American College Dance Festival to be held at the university April 17-22. Approximately 130 dancers from 15 universities will participate in the festival. They will attend seminars and classes and perform before adjudicators each night in concerts open to the public. In addition to universities in the Midwest, the University of Wyoming, the University of Nebraska, Cal State-Hayward and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette will send dancers.

Members of the ballet will conduct a master class on April 18 and give a lecture demonstration the morning of April 19 before giving their concert that night.

As odd as men in tutus may sound, the Trocks have gained mainstream acceptance since forming in 1974. They have appeared with the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City and Denver and with Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy in their show "Muppet Babies."

The repertoire is filled with chestnuts such as "Swan Lake" and "Giselle" supplemented by lesser known dances such as "Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet," a Jerome Robbins-style satire.

The ballets are supposed to be humorous, but the dancers are rigorously trained and attuned to the ballet tradition they have fun with. In the New York Times, critic Jennifer Dunning wrote: "The ballerinas may have big feet and hairy underarms, but they fill the stage with a theatrical perfume -- a sense of make-believe -- that is almost entirely lost in real' ballet today. The Trocks are stars, creatures of another world in more than one way."

Another critic says they're "something like Monty Python meets Rudolf Nureyev."

"The Trocks believe that taking the dance form too seriously can be humorous," says Dr. Marc Strauss, head of the Dance Program at Southeast. "They have a self-mocking quality that is endearing. They know what they're making fun of, and they're making fun of themselves."

Latest dance company

Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo is the latest in a progression of dance companies brought to Southeast in recent years. The Katherine Dunham Dance Company, which is an African American troupe from St. Louis, the Miami City Ballet, the Cleveland Ballet Dancing Wheels, which included dancers in wheelchairs, and the very modern David Parsons Dance Company preceded the Trocks.

"My goal has been to bring in as interesting and diverse high-profile dance companies as I can," Strauss says.

The troupe works in a Romantic ballet tradition called en travesti, in which women dressed as men and took the male roles. Paul Zmolek, an assistant professor of dance at the university, points to the Shakespearean theater tradition of males playing female roles.

"This in fact is a tradition that is supported by our heritage in theater and dance," Zmolek says.

"You don't have to look much further than Milton Berle dressing in women's clothing... This is really not that far from what people are used to."

The Trocks are funny because they are such excellent dancers, Zmolek says. "The reason it works is that in order to do parody have to be excellent at the form you're doing the parody of."

Dr. Martin Jones, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, doubts many people are familiar with the company locally. He has seen them only on TV. "They are a comic ballet that presumes to be very serious. Particularly for the women in the audience, I think this will be side-splitting."

Men in tutus are not a common sight in Southeast Missouri, Strauss acknowledges. "I recognize some people will have difficulty with the concept of this company. Come and give it a chance. Bring the kids and grandparents."

IF YOU GO

Who: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

When: 7 p.m. April 19

Where: Rose Theatre

Admission: $10