Raffaele Morra
A Day in the Life of a Trocks Dancer

By Mary-Ann Russon • UrbanWire
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While New York's all-male comic ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo (commonly known as The Trocks) was in town two weeks ago for just 5 days, UrbanWire managed to take a peek behind-the-scenes of this remarkable company. Here's our interview with Raffaele Morra, 28, an Italian ballet dancer who joined Trockadero in 2001, where we find out about life with the Trocks, and what it's like to dance on pointe [on their toes using special blocked-toe ballet shoes] and wear a tutu every day.

What's a day in the life of a Trocks Dancer like?
How many months of a year do you do this for?
So what do you like to do in your spare time?
What do your parents think of you joining The Trocks?
Have your parents seen a Trocks performance before?
Have you been trained in Ballet for many years?
Did you find it hard to adjust to playing female parts in the Trocks?
Do you think you will continue doing this for a long time?
What's the most important lesson you have learnt from being a part of Trocks?

UrbanWire: What's a day in the life of a Trocks Dancer like?

Raffaele Morra: "For The Trocks, in the morning we wake up and we do normal things until we have to come to the theatre really early, like today, we came here at about 11am. At 11.50am, we started with a class. Everyday we have to take class for [about] an hour and a half, depending on the schedule. And then we have to rehearse after the class. The class is to keep [us] in shape, then the rehearsal is the keep the ballet in shape, and also, because we travel a lot, we have to see the stage, because it's always different. Even though they all look alike, [the stages] are always different, so [we need to figure out] the spacing, how far up or down, or where you have to be in the line. We do this for about 3 or 4 hours, depending on whether it's a new performance or if we just came [into the country] the day before."

"Then we have 1 hour for makeup. We do our own makeup, and in 1 hour we have to make wonders, to look at least a little bit like girls. We don't pretend to be girls, of course. We want to be men in tights. But we still want to look good, so we have 1 hour to put on all the makeup, and the wig or the crown, and then the performance."

"After the performance, we only have time to eat something, just a little bit because we have to go to sleep, and the next day we start again."

UrbanWire: How many months of a year do you do this for? Do you have time off?

Raffaele Morra: "We do this every month of the year. We have time off, but it's not like a fixed time off. Sometimes there is no performance scheduled anywhere, so we just go home, and stay there. Like right now, after the tour in Japan, we have 1 complete month off, which was really restorative, but now we're starting again, and we won't have time off till February - maybe just some weeks here and there, but not really enough time to go on holiday or take a cruise somewhere."

UrbanWire: So what do you like to do in your spare time?

Raffaele Morra: "I like to rest, because this is really a hard schedule, and we really work hard, so we try to stay home. Also, we travel so much, so we don't want to travel more. And of course I like to spend time with my friends, and I go somewhere nearby like to the mountains close to where I live."

"I like interior design, so maybe I'll just enjoy redecorating my house. I have a lot of hobbies, like watching cooking shows. I just enjoy them and then I try to reproduce what I see, so I spend my day cooking, or going shopping, just normal things."

UrbanWire: What do your parents think of you joining The Trocks?

Raffaele Morra: "At first they were not really happy, because they were scared, not because of the company or the job itself, but because it was really far away from where I live. I have been in Italy all my life, until 4 years ago, when I [suddenly] said, "Okay I need to change, I'm joining this company, it's in New York." And I had to leave Italy, and go really far away to New York. And they were really scared, because I didn't know anything about travelling, or anything about the lifestyle in New York."

"So it was not about me being prepared as a person, I mean, if I was working in Torino [in Italy] - it's a pretty big city - its not like New York, it's not the same thing as being away, so many kilometres away from home. Like if I needed something in Torino, I could call my mum, and she would come and help me, but now she cannot. So for the first time in my entire life, I was completely alone. Of course I made friends, but it was not the same as having family behind you, shoulders to help you, so they were kind of scared. But now they see that it is possible, and they are happy that now I am travelling and I have so many possibilities that I did not have before - I can see so many different places, like coming to Singapore. If I was still in Torino I never would have thought of coming here, or to Hong Kong or to Japan, and now I'm here."

UrbanWire: Have your parents seen a Trocks performance before?

Raffaele Morra: "They have seen tapes before of the old style of the company. They were not really sure it was a good company for me, because in the beginning Trocks was about a group of guys trying to have a lot of fun, even if the classical ballet technique was not [of a] very high level."

UrbanWire: Have you been trained in Ballet for many years?

Raffaele Morra: "Yes my first year of ballet was when I was 11 years old. I was in a ballet school. Then I graduated and started performing in 1994. I was always trained in classical ballet, [and] even if I was dancing in more modern or contemporary pieces, the training was always in classical ballet, because it is important, and is the base of everything."

UrbanWire: Did you find it hard to adjust to playing female parts in the Trocks?

Raffaele Morra: "Well, let's say the pointe shoes, those are just an improvement on what I was doing before. If you are well-trained as a ballet dancer, even if you never go on pointe, you will still [be] able to rise yourself up into the demi pointe position - your muscles are already trained to pull up. If you have pointe shoes, they will help you to sustain it, you just have to add a little bit of strength, and then you will be able to go up on pointe, so it's not so hard."

"But when you are up there [on pointe] and you need to move as a ballerina, that is hard. [When I danced male parts] I was able to do big jumps and fewer turns, but now I have to do little poses, with delicate hands, and a little smile on my face, and this is different from what I [used] to do."

"We have a ballet mistress and she is really helping us. [When you have a] woman that is teaching you the technique, the quality of the movements [that you learn] is different, and that is why I think it is better that we are taught by a ballet mistress and not a ballet master."

UrbanWire: Do you think you will continue doing this for a long time?

Raffaele Morra: "Well this is really hard to say. When I joined the company 4 years ago, I joined saying, "Okay, I'll do this for 2 or 3 years, then I'll go". And before I joined the Trocks, I was already thinking that I need a change, maybe I need to stop dancing. And then I saw the performance of the Trocks, and I thought, "okay I'll join the Trocks, at least I'll try."

"Now, I don't want to say [when I'll stop, but] I'm not going to dance for such a long time. I think I [still] want to dance [when I'm older], and still be in really good shape. I don't want to [become the sort of person] who cannot dance because I'm too old, or my body can't respond to what I need to do."

"But 1 of my dreams is to teach - I will stop and teach Classical Ballet. I want to start teaching really early, because I want to be able to show my students what they are supposed to do, not because I'm doing it right, but at least they [can see how it's done]. [There are] teachers who sit on chairs and move their hands, but you really [need to] show [the movements]. So I still want to be able to do [the movements]."

UrbanWire: What's the most important lesson you have learnt from being a part of Trocks?

Raffaele Morra: "Well the main thing, even if it's not really related to the performance, is that we live incredibly nice lives. There is a lot of bad news around the world, and we still live gorgeous lives, we're still here performing and our performance is so funny, and full of life and laughter - something that nowadays people really need. So we are really blessed to have such a gorgeous life."

"And that's why, even if sometimes, we're not happy because maybe like tonight on stage I am not the great ballerina of the night, I am only part of the corp. But still at least I am happy that I am dancing, and I'm here enjoying my life - I'm here in Singapore, somewhere I'd never think of coming [otherwise]."

"Unlike in Iraq, they could never think of having fun or watching a performance, so we really have to keep this in mind that we are in a [really] good place."

Raffaele Morra has been with the Trocks since 2001, and on stage he goes by the names Lariska Dumbchenko and Pepe Dufka - his two unique comic stage personas.

Click here to visit the Official Trocks website and learn more about the Trocks.
Click here to read UrbanWire's review of the Trocks.