Biography

Philip Neal trained with School of Richmond Ballet, School of American Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet School in Copenhagen. He was awarded a silver medal in the 1985 International Prix de Lausanne and a Presidential Scholar of the Arts by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

Neal joined New York City Ballet in 1987, where he danced for 23 years; 17 as a principal dancer. Neal’s vast repertoire includes George Balanchine’s Apollo, Chaconne, Diamonds, Divertimento No. 15, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mozartiana, Serenade, Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Who Cares?, Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, Boris Eifman’s Musagéte, Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, Glass Pieces, The Goldberg Variations, and I’m Old Fashioned, and Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries, Les Gentilhommes, The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Désiré), and The Waltz Project, to name just a few.

Neal has appeared on PBS television’s Live From Lincoln Center and he was a guest artist with the Kirov Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet. He choreographed original works for Richmond Ballet, New York Choreographic Institute, and the National Choreographers Initiative. Neal also directed development and Trusteeship efforts and special events for Miami City Ballet.

Neal has been a guest instructor for organizations including Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the School of American Ballet and he is a sought-after mentor, teacher, panelist and adjudicator with National YoungArts Organization and Youth America Grand Prix.

As a distinguished repetiteur for The George Balanchine Trust and The Jerome Robbins Rights Trust, Neal stages their ballets for companies around the world, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet.

From 2015–2025, Neal was Artistic Director of Next Generation Ballet, and Dance Dean of the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center in Tampa, Florida.

Neal joined Boston Ballet in 2025 as Artistic Assistant Director.