Yes, they are men in tights, and tutus and toe shoes as well.

In what will undoubtedly be the most unusual show in the Admiral Theatre’s season, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo comes to town Feb. 17.

“The Trocks,” as they are affectionately called, are a group of professional male dancers who perform a range of classical ballet and modern dance, playing all the roles, male and female, “in faithful renditions of the manners and conceits of those dance styles,” according to their description.

“The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents and underlying incongruities of serious dance.”

Their costumes are flamboyant and their makeup is thick, but they’re not exactly cross-dressers in the traditional sense. Dark, curly chest hair rises above the dancers’ decolletage, and there is no attempt to hide manly Adam’s apples or bulging biceps. These are tutus with ‘tude.

Various incarnations of The Trocks have been performing since 1974, when a group of men in New York who loved ballet got together for the purpose of presenting a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet in parody form.

It’s a parody, but not a mockery of ballet.

“The fact that the men dance all the parts — heavy bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic princesses, angst-ridden Victorian ladies — enhances rather than mocks the spirit of dance as an art form . . .,” their description continues.

The first year they performed “off-off Broadway,” but by the 1975-76 season they had their act together and toured the United States and Canada under the National Endowment for the Arts Touring Program.

Audiences and critics alike were noting their “loving knowledge of dance, their comic approach and the astounding fact that men can, indeed dance ‘en pointe’ without falling flat on their faces.”

They began drawing notice from publications such as Variety, The London Daily Telegraph and The New Yorker. The photogenic troupe garnered a photo essay in Vogue, earning them international recognition.

During the past 30 years, they have performed in nearly every corner of the earth and been on many major TV shows, but they couldn’t have pulled it off for this long if they relied soley on schtick. These guys are really talented.

They come from all over the world, including Germany, Guatemala and Spain. Every one started out in “real” dance companies, from the Joffrey Ballet School and the Dance Theater of Harlem to the Royal Swedish Ballet and Ballet Nacional de Colombia.

Each dancer has created two alter egos, one male dancer, one female. Yonny Manaure, from Caracas, Venezuela, plays “Jacques d’Aniels” and “Margeaux Mundeyn.”

Jacque d’Aniels’ bio tells us that he “trained as an astronaut before entering the world of ballet.” And that “The list of great ballerinas he has danced with is as long as the list of great ballerinas who will never dance with him again.”

We learn that Margeaux Mundeyn, “originally a dresser to a great ballerina, began her career when, one night, she locked her mistress in the armoire and danced in her place. Although hailed by her critics for her wonderful technique, she fooled no one.”

Most of the dancers have taken Russian pseudonyms, probably because they’re so easy to parody. The program contains “Ida Nevasayneva,” “Ludmilla Beaulemova,” “Doris Vidanya” and “Fifi Barkova” — known to her colleagues in the West as “the Odessa Chihuahua.”

If you want to see a professional ballet company doing beloved classics in the traditional way, head for the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. If you want to see talented dancers and enjoy a hearty belly laugh, check out the Trocks.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo performs 8 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Admiral Theatre, 515 Pacific Ave., Bremerton.

Tickets are $30 main floor or loge, $22 balcony, all seats reserved. Tickets available at the box office or by phone at (360) 373-6743. wu