This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Tribune's dance critic, Kathy Adams, attended Tuesday night's performance by the Trey McIntyre Project at Kingsbury Hall. Here's her review:

The touring show of the Boise-based Trey McIntyre Project was so uniquely off the well-worn path of non-classical dance that many couldn't recognize it as such.

This work is astoundingly beautiful, emotionally engaging, original and highly detailed. It takes the best of what ballet technique can give you and fills it with purpose, while the work plays with dramatic intention. The purpose of art is to move us emotionally, yet so much choreography is either about nothing or so intellectual that it lacks heart.

The title of the first piece, "The Unkindness of Ravens," is poetic in its efficiency and, like so much else in the choreography, is both literal and metaphorical. A group of the birds are called is by "an unkindness of ravens." The etymology infers the birds' characteristics and ultimately provides fascinating source material for a piece of choreography – so it's funny, it's strange, it's sad, it's twisted. But it's about something — and that something is interesting.

The solo in "Bad Winter" was soulful, and the duet so personal and sensuous. I was sitting in the hole they call the front rows at Kingsbury, so I could not really see the duet clearly. But I saw enough to know the articulation these dancers are capable of make the choreography clear. Everyone has experienced a "Bad Winter" at sometime in their lives.

I loved "Ladies and Gentleman," although I think the last section of the work seemed stuck-on and unnecessary. Dynamically, it seemed like one section too long to me.

The dancers' technical ability and the dramatic expression in their bodies and faces gave me so much information about the choreography. Clarity is just that – there really is no other way to get across the idea.

— Kathy Adams