Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tina Finkelman Berkett and clearly one of Los Angeles’ leading dance companies, BODYTRAFFIC presents CHECK-MATE at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts December 11 – 13, 2025. The program will feature Coalescence (2025) by company member Jordyn Santiago, Schachmatt (Checkmate!) By internationally acclaimed choreographer Cayetano Soto, Flyland (premiere) by Netherlands choreographer David Middenthorp, and Secret Goodbye (Premiere) by Trey McIntyre, BODYTRAFFIC’s Creative Partner. Tickets are on sale now.
BODYTRAFFIC – Photo by Trey McIntyre
This will be the third season that BODYTRAFFIC has performed at The Wallis. The company’s touring schedule includes Connecticut, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, Palm Desert, California and then back to The Wallis in June of 2026.
One of the premiere works was choreographed by Trey McIntyre who graciously agreed to an interview with dance writer Jeff Slayton, just before going in to prepare for opening night as a performer with the Troubadour Theater, fondly known as the Troubies. Knowing that he grew up in Wichita, Kansas, we began talking about his dance background.
McIntyre found ballet class a bit boring at first and so he would go outside and make up dance steps. One day his teacher was watching him teach those steps to some friends of his and asked him to come inside and teach them to the rest of the class, which he did.
BODYTRAFFIC in “Coalescence” by Jordyn Santiago – Photo courtesy of BODYTRAFFIC.
“She started giving me opportunities to make up combinations for class,” he said. “At that time I really had a goal of being a creator. I wasn’t ever so interested in becoming a dancer. I was really only doing it to supplement the movement that I was doing in musical theater. To have some coordination.”
Although McIntyre attended the North Carolina School of the Arts when he was attending these institutions, there were very few choreography classes for ballet majors. He was lucky that the contemporary faculty took notice of his choreographic gifts, and when the Houston Ballet Company came through auditioning for their summer workshop (which has a major choreographic component) the faculty recommended McIntyre for the workshop. He was later appointed Choreographic Apprentice to Houston Ballet, a position created especially for him, and in 1995 he became the company’s Choreographic Associate.
BODYTRAFFIC in rehearsal of Trey McIntyre’s “Secret Goodbye” – Photo by Trey McIntyre.
Over the years McIntyre worked nationally and internationally with many companies. Just a few include The Stuttgart Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Queensland Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and New York City Ballet.
During this time, he founded his own company. “Speaking about things gathering their own momentum, it really came from a few friends saying ‘Hey, you should start a company’”, McIntyre said. He really did not want to be an artistic director, but those same friends challenged him to do things in his own way. He put together a pick-up company titled the Trey McIntyre Project, which he ran for three years. They were fortunate enough to work at the White Oak Plantation in Florida. “That took momentum fairly quickly and it felt like a strike while the iron is hot kind of thing,” he said.
McIntyre knew that the dance business expected companies to be based in New York but he thought that New York was already overly saturated with companies vying for recognition and funding. The social climate was such that states were divided between red and blue states, so in the spirit of going where others might not and a desire to create a sense of an art community, The McIntyre Project moved to Boise, Idaho. At the time, the population in Boise was approximately 200,000 people.
BODYTRAFFIC in rehearsal of Trey McIntyre’s “Secret Goodbye” – Photo by Trey McIntyre.
“I must say, we succeeded with flying colors,” he said. “It was us and the football team, and that was what defined Boise, Idaho at the time.”
Although the company was very successful, McIntyre was feeling burnt out so decided to close its doors on a high note. The Boise community has, however, continued to thrive.
In 2024, McIntyre took on the position of Creative Partner with BODYTRAFFIC. I asked what that position entailed.
BODYTRAFFIC at Palm Drive – Photo by Trey McIntyre.
“It’s as loose as it sounds,” he responded. “I basically gravitate where the need is.” The job does, of course, include creating, and when he has an idea, Tina Finkelman Berkett lets McIntyre choreograph a new work on the company. “I’ve had the opportunity to continue working with the same dancers in a way that I couldn’t with my own company without the accountability and responsibility of being the director.”
McIntyre also advised BODYTRAFFIC how they communicate with the public, like pulling together a brand strategy that is efficient and consistent. The other part of his position is being a confidant with the artistic director, Berkett. That person who she can safely discuss artistic ideas and the overall needs of the company.
“In my opinion, BODYTRAFFIC is the best contemporary dance company in America at this point. It has really seen some growth.”
BODYTRAFFIC in “Mayday” by Trey McIntyre – Photo by Kevin Parry.
This is the second work that McIntyre has choreographed for BODYTRAFFIC, the first being Mayday. He said that normally does a lot of pre-planning before beginning to choreograph a new dance. Secret Goodbye, however, came about in a unique way in that a day after Berkett asked him to make a new piece, he began rehearsals the next day. Berkett had hoped that he would use music by Sam Cooke and it turns out that Cooke is his favorite singer.
“All I could do was go with what I’m thinking about right now as if I had been working on a piece,” McIntyre said, which was thinking about how many communities he had stepped into and out of during his lifetime and that he was about to step into a room with people who are bonded together to do a good job. “So, the piece is about the fullness in which we form these communities with the melancholy feeling underneath it that this will surely end in a very short amount of time.”
Trey McIntyre – Photo courtesy of BODYTRAFFIC.
When it came to the costumes for Secret Goodbye, McIntyre let the costume designer, Susan Roemer, dictate how they looked. Describing just a little of what he was thinking, McIntyre told her to listen to the music and design the costume. “I told her that I would make the piece to fit the costumes that she made.”
The second new work premiering on BODYTRAFFIC’s program at The Wallis is titled Flyland by Netherlands choreographer David Middenthorp. When asked to describe that piece, McIntyre said that Middenthorp uses a process of video projection as a way of defying gravity, and that a very intimate pas de deux is created by integrating live dancers with this video projection.
Jordyn Santiago and Anaya Gonzalez of BODYTRAFFIC – Photo by Trey McIntyre.
If you look at the photographer’s name on some of the photos in this article, you will see yet another of McIntyre’s talents – photography. He only took a short community course in photography but he also learned about the camera while working with photographers as an inspiring model in New York City. He is six foot six inches tall and did not get much employment. Aside from his work as a choreographer, McIntyre creates artwork that incorporates his photographs. That is for another article.
McIntyre said that this is a truly beautiful concert and the new work encapsulates all the ways in which BODYTRAFFIC is strong. “I think that it is a show where it is truly showcased. It is going to be a very warm, artistically satisfying and happy evening.”
WHAT: BODYTRAFFIC presents CHECK-MATE featuring Coalescence (2025) by Jordyn Santiago, Schachmatt (Checkmate!) by Cayetano Soto, Flyland (Premiere) by David Middenthorp, and Secret Goodbye (Premiere) by Trey McIntyre.
WHERE: Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts’ Bram Goldsmith Theater located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills 90210
WHEN:
Thursday, December 11 at 7:30pm
Friday, December 12 at 7:30pm
Saturday, December 13 at 7:30pm
TICKETS: Prices begin at $42.92 (with service charges)
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit The Wallis website.
For more information about BODYTRAFFIC, please visit their website.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: BODYTRAFFIC in Coalescence by Jordyn Santiago – Photo courtesy of BODYTRAFFIC.
