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Kicking off its first year-long U.S. and international tour, Trey McIntyre Project brings a fresh and intriguing program to the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow, August 20 – 24, 2008 including a world premiere with a score by renowned American folk musician, Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary. Dubbed “one of ballet’s most surprising talents” by The New York Times and one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine, McIntyre is dedicated to breaking ballet boundaries and developing dance audiences for the future.

Jacob’s Pillow has supported TMP since its creation, inviting the company to make its East Coast debut in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre in 2005. Following much critical and audience acclaim, TMP returned to perform in 2006. Jacob’s Pillow Executive Director Ella Baff comments, “Trey’s dances are an unusual mix of rigorous classical form and spontaneous looking contemporary style. He hand-picks dancers who throw themselves full force into the demands of his full-out movement. TMP performances are a great way to introduce people to dance. “

“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, keeping the art form current and fresh and supporting artists as they emerge on the international and national dance scene. In 2007 alone, Jacob’s Pillow presented ten world premieres, twelve dance works new to the U.S., four companies from abroad in their U.S. debuts, and the world debut of Bad Boys of Dance featuring Rasta Thomas.

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 Theater of Harlem made its first professional appearance in 1970. More recently, David Parsons presented the first performances by 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.

Originally founded in 2004 as a summer touring company with the purpose of supporting and producing choreographic works by Trey McIntyre, TMP 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 official 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, Calif., Portland, Ore., Philadelphia, Pa., and New York, N.Y. as well as Italy, Hungary and Greece.

“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.”

In his signature pieces for TMP, McIntyre explores Americana by taking on such themes as religion, superstition, family and friendship relationships, and love through dance. The Washington Post recently stated that, “McIntyre’s facility with “fear factor ballet moves” and his gift of mating them with pop music, has propelled him very quickly to the forefront of American ballet choreographers.”

“I choreograph a lot of work using contemporary pop music. This kind of music tends to get maligned frequently in the fine arts, but the truth is there is a world of material here that deserves to be taken seriously,” explains McIntyre. “The Beatles and Beck, in particular, constitute two of the most innovative musical voices of the past several decades.”

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. Aside from his critical and public acclaim from within the dance community, McIntyre was named one of People magazine’s “25 Most Eligible Bachelors” in 2003.

At the age of 37, McIntyre has created more than 70 ballets and has worked with more than 30 companies including; Stuttgart Ballet, Moscow Ballet Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Washington Ballet, Ballet de Santiago (Chile), Ballet Florida, Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Pacifica, Miami City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Oakland Ballet, Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, and Corpus Christi Ballet.

For more information, visit www.jacobspillow.org and www.treymcintyre.com.

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