DANCE

Society for the Performing Arts (SPA), bringing the world’s best to Houston, presents Trey McIntyre Project. 8 pm, Friday, November 13, 2009 in Wortham Center's Cullen Theater.

Led by Houston Ballet’s former choreographic associate, this ground-breaking contemporary ballet company makes its Houston debut. What makes Trey McIntyre’s choreography unique is “in the rhythm” says Los Angeles Times. He makes “brainy choices about a dance’s tempo, harmony and timbre.” The SPA program includes Like a Samba set to a septet of songs by Astrud Gilberto; (serious) a trio set to the music of Henry Cowell; Shape with music by Goldfrapp and The Polyphonic Spree; and The Sun Road, a commission for the Wolf Trap Foundation's “Face of America” about Glacier National Park with music by Paul Simon, Young Grey Horse and Nina Simone. “McIntyre's approach to dance is ingrained in classical technique and movement, but (with (serious)) he is moving into new territory,” says Idaho Statesman.

“Our goal is to use the inherent beauty of ballet vocabulary to create dances that authentically and clearly convey the emotion and grace of life’s journey, while meaningfully engaging audiences in the experience of art,” says Trey McIntyre, Artistic Director. Three short years ago, Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) burst onto the national dance scene with its debut performances at The Vail International Dance Festival. TMP’s “fresh and forward-thinking choreography” (Washington Post) was an immediate sensation with both critics and audiences alike.

Led by celebrated choreographer Trey McIntyre, whose work has been commissioned by American Ballet Theatre, Stuttgart Ballet, and many other top ballet companies around the world, TMP also boasts an ensemble of top professional dancers, who have danced with companies such as The Washington Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Ballet Memphis and Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Since its inaugural season, the Company has gone on to perform at some of the most prestigious venues in the country, including Jacob’s Pillow, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, and the Aspen Dance Festival, premiering works created during annual summer residencies at White Oak Plantation. Guided by the choreographer’s unparalleled ear for musical structures, TMP’s repertoire spans classical music (The Blue Boy to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1), rock (A Day in the Life, set to music by The Beatles and High Lonesome to music by Beck), jazz (Sacred Ellington, a collaboration with opera legend Jessye Norman and Blue Until June to music by Etta James), and historic bluegrass music selections (Go Out).

TMP was initially formed as a summer touring company. Because of the overwhelmingly positive critical reception of the Company’s work since its founding in 2004 and the success of its operational model, TMP incorporated as a non-profit entity in order to be able to support a full-time, international touring company. TMP will debut the Company in its new form in a 30-city tour across the United States and abroad during the 2008-09 season. McIntyre’s ambitious new multi-media ballet The Sun Road about the effects of global warming, commissioned jointly by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and Glacier National Park for its Face of America program, will premiere in the summer of 2009 as part of the Company’s tour across America.

Pictured:  dancer Chanel DaSilva.