Finding Neverland: Interview with Choreographer Trey McIntyre
When choreographer Trey McIntyre first considered bringing Peter Pan to the ballet stage, he didn't reach for the Disney film or other adaptations. He went straight to J.M. Barrie's original books.
"I spent three years researching before laying down the first step in rehearsal," McIntyre recalls. "I knew the ins and outs of the story and had time to think through every single character. It was like telling a story around a campfire."
But for McIntyre, Peter Pan is more than a beloved children's tale. It's a journey into what it means to be an artist.
The Artist's Neverland
"This story speaks to what it means to remain connected to what is childlike and to unlimited possibilities in life," McIntyre explains. "When we become adults, we place restrictions on ourselves and our world gets smaller. We have responsibilities, people depend on us, systems to keep everyone safe. But the reality that never goes away is that imagination is limitless. Peter reminds us we are so much more than the mundane of everyday life and what we have on repeat."
For McIntyre, this message is particularly important for artists. "We are always trying to do that, to be reminded that we are infinite spirits. I'm comfortable living my life in a childlike way. That's why this story spoke to me."
Telling a Story Through Dance
Growing up through Houston Ballet under Artistic Director Ben Stevenson, considered one of the greatest storytellers in ballet, McIntyre learned early on the art of storytelling in ballet.
McIntyre set out with a clear goal: no mime as a storytelling tactic. "If it couldn't be told in dance, I had failed," he says. Over the years of refining the work, he's found ways to be more concise with a dance narrative.
The flying sequences McIntyre put together in Peter Pan actually came from his personal experience. Just before creating the ballet, McIntyre performed in a show where he flew for eight months straight.
"I did incredible gymnastics on a flying line with bungee," he recalls. "It was a great basis for knowing what it was like to fly and what control you had in the air. Through sheer luck and perfect timing, I was the right person to integrate flying into dance."
Teaching Dancers How to Fly
But teaching dancers to fly presents unique challenges. "The first thing is to forget everything they've ever known about gravity, center, and placement," McIntyre explains. "You're a pendulum, always hanging from a single point. Those inches that don't matter on the ground suddenly matter completely when you're swinging through the air."
The biggest hurdle he says is fear. "I've learned a shorthand to help dancers make that shift and approach it without fear," he says. "The feeling of flying in a rig is truly a special experience, but that feeling doesn't necessarily translate visually unless dancers communicate it.”
Practical Magic
McIntyre's implements what he calls “practical magic” into the ballet, where audiences know what is happening, rather than simply being tricked.
He incorporates dancing shadows, with dancers performing in front of screens where you can't tell what's shadow and what's real. There are moments when Peter Pan holds Tinkerbell in his hand, and you see her full-size shadow on a sheet. "I love practical magic like that—sleight of hand that doesn't require video projection or lasers," he says.
Even the flying wires become part of this philosophy. Through careful lighting design, the wires seem to disappear. "You want the wires gone, so it’s all about complicated lighting to cover them up,” McIntyre notes.
A Story Through a Child's Eyes
Ultimately, McIntyre has crafted Peter Pan to be experienced through a child's perspective where the magic of making art and creating something wonderful is part of the story itself.
"Peter Pan reminds us, even jaded adults, that we should never forget what it was like to be a child," McIntyre says. "For artists especially, it's an important story. We live in a place where imagination is limitless and that's something worth holding onto."