Trey McIntyre Debuts Company and Two World Premieres at Jacob's Pillow
 |
| Photo's Courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow |
Jacob’s Pillow has supported TMP since 2005 when the Pillow’s Executive Director, Ella Baff, invited the pick-up company to perform for the first time on the East coast in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre. Following critical and audience acclaim, TMP was invited for a return engagement in 2006 in the larger Ted Shawn Theatre. Baff comments, “I’ve followed Trey’s success closely over the years as he’s choreographed for many important ballet companies including Houston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the popular Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. When he approached me with the idea of starting his own pick-up company, I signed on to support the effort by presenting the group at the Pillow. It’s gratifying to know that the opportunity to experiment at the Festival influenced his decision to have a full-time company. About a year ago I received a call from Trey informing me that he had decided to go year-round with TMP. My invitation for a Pillow launch came shortly after that call.”
McIntyre has described his new work, Leatherwing Bat, as “an exploration of the sometimes very adult journey of being a child and the similarities and continuations of these processes as we enter actual adulthood.” The work features costumes by Sandra Woodall, lighting design by Nicholas Phillips, and music by folk legend Peter Yarrow from Peter, Paul and Mary’s album, Peter, Paul and Mommy. McIntyre has said that the work can be considered a sequel to his autobiographical High Lonesome (2000), which was performed at the Pillow in 2005. The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry (2003) is set to Dvor(ák’s “Serenade for Strings in E-minor,” and has received much critical acclaim. The Washington Post hails the ballet as “admirable on many levels. Waves of fresh, imaginative dancing spill across the stage; the movement is both virtuosic and nuanced...The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry is one that bears repeated viewing—and soon." A third work, a yet untitled pas de deux world premiere, will round out the program.
In addition to ticketed performances by TMP, the Pillow offers two related PillowTalks and a photography exhibit that complement the company’s performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre. On Wednesday, August 20, a PillowTalk entitled The Photos of Lindquist and Lundqvist will be held in Blake’s Barn at 5pm. The striking similarities of vintage color photographs by Pillow photographer John Lindquist and his contemporary counterpart Jonas Lundqvist are explored by guest panelists, including Trey McIntyre, in this one-hour conversation. Images beyond those exhibited in the Ted Shawn Theatre lobby will be shown, and Lundqvist’s stunning shots of Trey McIntyre’s dancers will also be featured. On Saturday, August 23 at 4pm, Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, appears for an informal conversation, and perhaps a song or two, in a talk entitled Peter (Minus Paul and Mary).
McIntyre recognizes the Pillow’s continual support of his choreographic explorations and his company. "To perform at the Pillow is to be part of dance history. The greatest and most innovative names in our art form have consistently come to perform there and I am proud to be in this inspiring company," states Artistic Director Trey McIntyre. "Ella Baff believed in TMP from the very beginning and I am thrilled to bring the company back for a third time as we inaugurate our very first full-time season."
Under Baff’s direction, one of Jacob’s Pillow’s programming initiatives is to provide its audiences with U.S. and world premieres and debuts, supporting artists as they emerge on the international and national dance scene and presenting new and important choreography. The 2008 Festival presents additional world premieres by Stockholm 59° North and Kate Weare Company; U.S. premieres by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Mimulus, Ballet Boyz, T.P.O., and Ko & Edge Co.; Hofesh Shechter Company’s U.S. debut; as well as the world debut of the Trey McIntyre Project as a full-time company. The Pillow holds a long-standing tradition of supporting the development of new dance companies. After a major reorganization, The Robert Joffrey Ballet gave its first performances at the Pillow in 1965, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem made its first professional appearance at the Pillow in 1970. David Parsons presented the first performances of his Parsons Dance Company on the Inside/Out stage in 1987, and Taylor 2, of Paul Taylor Dance Company, had its official debut at the Pillow in 1993. In 2007, during its 75th anniversary season, the Pillow presented the world debut of Bad Boys of Dance under the direction of renowned dancer Rasta Thomas.
First organized in 2004 as a summer touring company with the purpose of supporting and producing choreographic works by Trey McIntyre, TMP has employed some of the country’s greatest contemporary ballet dancers from companies such as The Washington Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theatre. Over the past three summers, TMP has worked toward its goal of becoming a full-time dance company. Following its upcoming debut at Jacob’s Pillow, TMP’s inaugural 2008-2009 season tour of the U.S. and abroad has 30 scheduled stops including Los Angeles, Ca., Portland, Or., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and New York as well as Italy, Hungary, and Germany.
"Making this company has been a meticulous process of baby-steps, always making sure we were on firm footing as an organization before expanding,” states McIntyre, “The time has come where there are no more baby-steps to be made. The fact that we are able to embark on a 30 city tour right out of the gate enables us to grow with confidence."
Born in Wichita, Kansas, Trey McIntyre burst onto the choreographic scene at a young age. In 1987 he joined the Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, and two years later, at the age of 19, he was named Choreographic Apprentice to Houston Ballet, a position created especially for him by Artistic Director Emeritus, Ben Stevenson. McIntyre joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 1990 and created his first work, Skeleton Clock that same year at the age of 20. He has since created seven additional works for Houston Ballet which include Curupira (1993), Touched (1994), Second Before the Ground (1996), Bound (2000), The Shadow (2003) and his first evening-length work, Peter Pan (2002), of which dance critic Robert Greskovic said, “To call McIntyre’s Peter Pan the most impressive, original, multi-act ballet created by an American choreographer in recent memory doesn’t quite do the three-act production justice.” In 1995, McIntyre was named Choreographic Associate for Houston Ballet, a position he held until 2007. Additionally, he has held Resident Choreographer positions at Ballet Memphis, The Washington Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theatre. McIntyre has received numerous awards, including two choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Choo San Goh Award for Choreography.
McIntyre has created more than 75 ballets and has worked with more than 30 companies including; Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Ballet de Santiago (Chile), Ballet Florida, Ballet Memphis, Ballet Pacifica, Corpus Christi Ballet, Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Miami City Ballet, Moscow Ballet Theater, Nashville Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, and The Washington Ballet.
For more information, visit www.jacobspillow.org and www.treymcintyre.com.
