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How The Trey McIntyre Project Ended Up $25,000 In Debt

Trey McIntyre Project

This weekend, the Trey McIntyre Project will end its six-year run with their final performances at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. The Massachusetts festival is the first place the dance project performed as a group, so there’s some poetry in the fact it will also be the last.

What’s not so poetic is the state of the company’s finances.

Earlier this week, artistic director Trey McIntyre sent an email to supporters asking for donations. Unlike previous appeals, this one was a bit more urgent: between now and July first, the nonprofit arts organization needs to fill a $25,000 hole.

The deficit has a lot to do with McIntyre’s decision to end his fulltime dance company.

In January, the choreographer announced he wanted to shift his focus to film and photography – he’s working on his first documentary right now.

Getting donors to continue supporting this new vision has been difficult, says chief strategy officer Caty Solace.

She says they planned for a decrease in pledges, but not as much as they’ve experienced. Solace says McIntyre decided to write the email in the hopes it would strike a chord with supporters.

“I’ve never seen response like this before to one of our email appeals," says Solace. "I think it has to do with the fact that Trey’s letter was so personal. I know he took a great deal of time to write out that appeal to our family across the country.”

Solace says in just a few days they’ve raised close to $5,000 from donors mostly in the Boise community. Even with a hefty $20,000 left to raise in less than a week, she’s optimistic some bigger donors will come forward to close the financial gap.

By July first, Solace and the rest of the staff and dancers will be out of a job. McIntyre will continue to call Boise home, but he’s recently downsized – selling his house and moving into an apartment.

Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter at @FABarnhill

Copyright 2014 Boise State Public Radio

Frankie Barnhill was the Senior Producer of Idaho Matters, Boise State Public Radio's daily show and podcast.

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