Houston Ballet Presents PETER PAN, Now thru 6/23

Based upon the popular story by Sir James M. Barrie, Peter Pan is a magical ballet set to the music of Sir Edward Elgar in an arrangement by Niel DePonte and features spectacular flying sequences, swashbuckling swordfights, giant puppets, colorful masks, as well as costumes inspired by punk fashion. With elaborate, magical sets by Thomas Boyd and imaginative costumes by Broadway designer Jeanne Button, the production reinterprets the classic story with verve and wit. Houston Ballet will give seven performances of Peter Pan at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713 227 2787 or by visiting www.houstonballet.org.

Houston Ballet premiered Peter Pan in March 2002, with dance critic Robert Greskovic of DanceView writing, "To call Trey 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....Peter Pan is a story ballet that really flies." (Summer 2002) Molly Glentzer, of the Houston Chronicle, called Mr. McIntyre "a superb storyteller with a kid's heart and an adult's appreciation of life's complexities." (March 16, 2002) Clive Barnes, writing in Dance Magazine, described Mr. McIntyre as a "choreographer of considerable promise...who tackled it [Peter Pan] with invention, a sure dramatic instinct, and a very special sensibility." (July 2002)

Mr. McIntyre's Peter Pan is told from a child's perspective, which is evident in the set design and costumes. Many set pieces have a playful sense of scale, representing a pint-sized person's perspective. The ballet opens with seven-foot, larger-than-life nannies wheeling in huge buggies. Mr. and Mrs. Darling, who wear stiff masks, seem cold and imposing; in this retelling, the adults seem far removed and somewhat frightening.

This Peter Pan also emphasizes the connection between children and the dream world. The Darling children sleep in beds festooned with flowers and vines. Right beyond their bedroom lies a massive garden full of pink and purple blooms, inhabited by fairies. The garden motifs on the beds and other set pieces symbolize their tie to a world full of magical creatures. Fairies are real, shadows become a threatening presence and the children meet a new friend who whisks them away to a fantastical place full of mermaids, pirates, redskins and a very large crocodile.

Mr. McIntyre is one of the most sought-after choreographers working today. Born in Wichita, KS, McIntyre has created more than 80 works for companies such as Houston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Stuttgart Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, New York City Ballet and Ballet de Santiago (Chile). Mr. McIntyre is an artist who was discovered and nurtured at Houston Ballet over two decades: He studied at Houston Ballet Academy in 1987, danced with Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1995; and served as choreographic associate for Houston Ballet from 1989-2008. Houston Ballet has commissioned seven works from Mr. McIntyre, including Second Before the Ground (1996), Bound (2000), The Shadow(2003), and the full-length Peter Pan (2002).

In 2008, he formed his own company, the acclaimed Trey McIntyre Project, based in Boise, Idaho. In 2010 Mr. McIntyre was named the United States Artists Wynn Fellow. He has received two choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography, was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2001, one of People Magazine's "25 Hottest Bachelors" in 2003 and one of Out Magazine's 2008 "Tastemakers." In 2012 the Trey McIntyre Project toured to China, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Reviewing a trio of Mr. McIntyre's works performed by the Trey McIntyre Project at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in August 2010, The New York Timescritic Alastair Macaulay observed of Mr. McIntyre:

It's refreshing to see a choreographer who, while showing a wide command of the ballet vocabulary, isn't haunted by the idioms of Balanchine and doesn't rely on high lifts or acrobatic extensions.... A gift like this reminds me of the choreographer Antony Tudor. There are other ways in which Mr. McIntyre could be a Tudor of our day: notably the way he can time movements to music for dramatic eloquence so that the music tells a story different from, but related to, the dance. But there's a fertility of invention and a modernity of spirit here that are all Mr. McIntyre's own. (August 6, 2010).

The Los Angeles Times told the world to "keep [their] eye on Trey McIntyre, who creates brilliant works" in their dance preview of the 21st century.

Houston Ballet's performances of Peter Pan are made possible from the generous support of Chevron, JPMorgan Chase, DLS Event Services and Wortham Foundation.

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