UNE student inspires in Maine State Ballet’s 'The Nutcracker'

For Trevor Seymour, life is all about connections — connections between the mind and the body, between the sciences and the arts. Connections between people.

Seymour (Public Health, ’27) — who hails from Scarborough, Maine, and uses they/them pronouns — is an aspiring doctor whose passion for public service takes many forms. It is a passion that was cultivated with inspiration from their mother, who is a registered nurse, personal experience with the health care system, and a lifelong love of the performing arts.

“Public service just felt natural for me,” said Seymour, who wants to pursue a career in cardiology. “I had a really big medical influence within my house growing up, and I found myself so interested in what my mom did at work, even if it was the smallest thing.”

And for Seymour, it’s the small things that add up.

They said it was tedious work, but it will have a big impact on people who need the equipment.

“There’s really no too small of a part to play in that kind of work,” they said. “To me, it doesn’t matter if I’m just repackaging catheters; I know someone’s going to need that catheter somewhere. I’m still helping make a difference either way.”

Seymour has also leveraged their ability to form connections to bring together their community amid a recent hardship.

In wake of the October mass shootings in Lewiston — the deadliest in Maine’s history — Seymour organized a vigil to honor those who lost their lives and were wounded. Dozens of UNE community members came together to pay their respects to the victims.

“I wanted it to be an opportunity for the students and like the community as a whole to feel like they're together,” they said. “To have a moment of togetherness and focusing on community in a time when the world around us feels like it's falling apart.”

Togetherness is a big theme in Seymour’s life. Dancing, they said, is another way to build community in an uncertain world.

This December, Seymour starred as the titular character in Maine State Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker.” It was Seymour’s ninth time performing in the show, which was held at Merrill Auditorium in Portland. It was also their fifth time as the Nutcracker and their fourth time playing the Russian soloist.

“I love to dance, and I love to share that love with the audience by showing them that I enjoy it,” they remarked.

But dancing, like medicine, requires discipline, a lesson Seymour has learned in their more than 15 of years honing their craft.

“I’m thankful for my dance career because it’s given me an innate ability to receive constructive feedback and improve upon my technique,” they said. “I think in correlation to becoming a doctor, this skill will be useful when going through residency and internship, where you hear a lot of criticism in order to grow.”