TROY GAME

Premiered 7 October 1974 by London Contemporary Dance Theatre at Queens Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, England

Only the truly skilful theatre creator could "have his cake and eat it" to quite the extent and with such confident success as Robert North in his seminal ballet Troy Game, a resounding hit since its 1974 premiere, entering the repertoires of companies worldwide, including Dance Theater of Harlem (1979) and the Royal Ballet (1980).

On the one hand, we are offered a blatant celebration of handsomely unclad masculinity, strutting its stuff with unashamed bravura; and on the other, we can enjoy a wickedly self-aware "pulling out of the carpet" from under the male ego. The result, it must be admitted, is, quite simply, huge fun. Jennifer Dunning (New York Times 1991), rightly identified beneath its "goofy exterior" the wit, purity and innovation of its "intricately constructed series of moving friezes".

The title, of course, refers to the periodic ritual of elaborate horseback manoeuvres whereby the ancient Romans celebrated their claimed descent (see Virgil's Aeneid) from the survivors of the 1200 BC sack of Troy, which continues to be honoured (most recently by Hollywood) with a generous display of absurdly posturing, loin-clothed manhood. The classical motif is not restricted, however, to costume and title alone, but also to the ballet's intentional use of the frieze, reminiscent of Greek or Roman stonework.

Originally created on six dancers, Troy Game emerged from Robert North's
interest in the martial art forms Aikido (Japan) and Capoeira (Brazil) and the desire to stage a light-hearted dance poking fun at the male ego. The music reflected this starting-point, in Bob Downes' choice of the Brazilian Batucada rhythm.

©Tim Tubbs