Philip Neal

Who is Philip Neal?

Philip Neal was a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. He studied from age 11 at the Richmond Ballet School. After six years of study there, Edward Villella arranged a summer scholarship for him at NCYB's School of American Ballet. In 1985 Philip won the silver medal at the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition.

The following year Neal graduated magna cum laude from St. Paul's School and was a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts' Presidential Scholar of the Arts and as a consequence performed at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He subsequently enrolled full-time at SAB and also trained at the Royal Danish Ballet School in Copenhagen, joining NYCB's corps de ballet in 1987.

Four years later Neal was promoted to soloist and at the end of the 1992–1993 winter season to principal dancer. Neal's farewell performance took place Sunday, June 13th, 2010, and consisted of ballets by George Balanchine.