Trey McIntyre, one of today’s most sought-after choreographers, is a strong believer in the science of dance. “It’s one of the best ways we have of organizing the human form and being effective communicators of our bodies,” he said. “But it is certainly, definitely exploration.”
His dance troupe, the Trey McIntyre Project, makes its Washington Performing Arts Society debut in three exhilarating performances at Sydney Harmon Hall this weekend.
| Onstage |
| Trey McIntyre Project |
| Where: Sidney Harmon Hall, 610 F St. NW |
| When: 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $22 to $75; 202-785-9727, wpas.org |
With Idaho as its home base, McIntyre’s company consists of 20 dancers, 10 of whom have been assembled for this tour along. Their repertoire features diverse choreographed pieces from the Beatles to Beethoven. For these D.C. shows, however, the members will introduce a new piece, “The Sweeter End” produced in collaboration with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
“The city and culture of New Orleans has really resonated with me,” McIntyre said. “They have a unique way of looking at death; an awareness they live with [as] a part of their lives. In [The Sweeter End] my dancers wear skull masks to celebrate it. We explore the New Orleans funeral, which is an almost seductive relationship with death.”
A second performance piece is “Ma Maison,” also set to the music of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and, finally, “In Dreams,” a darkly lyrical ballet for five dancers set to the music of Roy Orbison.
These days, McIntyre has given up dancing in favor of choreography explaining that, “It’s my love; it’s really what I want to do with my life.” Since his years with the Houston Ballet, he has created a canon of more than 80 works for companies such as American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and he Washington Ballet. In December 2009, the Los Angeles Times, writing about the future of dance in the 21st century, told the world to “keep [their] eyes on Trey McIntyre, who creates brilliant works.”
And if the future of the Trey McIntyre Project holds weeks and months of traveling, so be it.
“We consider ourselves very much an American dance company,” McIntyre concluded. “Our home is not just in Boise, Idaho, but in the cities we continue to go back to and have established a relationship with. We want people to see the bulk of [our] work and grow with us as we evolve over time.”
