Former NYC Ballet principal Philip Neal to direct NGB 2015 summer intensive

The Patel Conservatory and Next Generation Ballet (NGB) is proud to announce that acclaimed choreographer and former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Philip Neal has been engaged as the interim artistic director of NGB’s 2015 Summer Intensive.

Neal gives corrections at an NGB master class.

Having been a guest instructor for NGB’s summer intensive in previous years, Neal is excited to return to Tampa this summer.

“I’m really honored and thrilled. I love to be in the studio working with students,” said Neal.

After a 23-year tenure with New York City Ballet, 17 years as a principal dancer, Neal currently is a repetiteur for the George Balanchine Trust and the Jerome Robbins Rights Trust, staging the ballets of both legendary choreographers throughout the world.

He began his dance career with the New York City Ballet in the same year as current NGB artistic director Peter Stark, and the two have remained friends throughout the years.

“I work with companies all over the world," said Neal. "I saw NGB’s Nutcracker in December, and what Peter has built with NGB is amazing. So it’s very important to me that I protect the top level of training expected. I want to be sure students receive training that will continue to serve them on a global scale, preparing them for a myriad of companies.”

Neal has created work for the Richmond Ballet, and has been invited to participate in the New York Choreographic Institute. He has been on the permanent faculty of the School of American Ballet, and continues to teach there as a guest instructor. He has been a guest instructor for numerous dance companies and schools, including Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Joffrey Ballet.

NGB’s summer intensive will also feature many guest instructors including Maria Kowroski, principal ballerina with New York City Ballet and Sascha Radetsky, star of the movie Center Stage and former soloist with American Ballet Theatre. 

In addition to leading a stellar group of instructors, Neal hopes to impart more than technique to his students.

“Training is as much about learning how to jump and turn, as it is about learning dignity and humility. I think those are principles that Peter and I  have in common,” said Neal. “Students joining us this summer will improve their training, mindset, discipline and humility, all the things they need to survive and succeed as a dancer in a professional environment.”

For more information on NGB’s summer intensive, including a full list of guest instructors, visit nextgenerationballet.org.

Summer Fantasy features iconic pieces from Company B

Next Generation Ballet's five week summer intensive culminates this Friday in the production of Summer Fantasy.

Eran Bugge, of the Paul Taylor
Dance Company

This year, the production has a special addition. Eran Bugge, of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, will stage “Bugle Boy” and “Rum and Coca Cola” from Paul Taylor’s iconic Company B.

“This is like the first violinist in Beethoven’s orchestra teaching the fifth symphony,” said Peter Stark, artistic director of NGB.

“Paul Taylor is considered a living legend of dance and gave personal permission to Ms. Bugge to stage the works.”

Bugge is a former student of Stark’s when he was with the Orlando Ballet Company. She has taught in previous Patel Conservatory summer programs and said of the NGB students, “These are some of the finest up and coming dancers around and they can certainly rise to the occasion of this master work.” 

Eran Bugge works with NGB student Talbot
Rue, 17, of Fort Wayne, Ind., on Bugle Boy

Bugge started her ballet training with Stark when he was the director of Orlando Ballet School. She then studied dance on a scholarship at the University of Hartford. She has performed in works by Amy Marshall, Katie Stevinson-Nollet and Jean Grand-Maître and was also a member of Full Force Dance Theatre and the Adam Miller Dance Project.

Summer Fantasy feature more than 150 dancers who have come from 25 states and three other countries to train at the Patel Conservatory. The show includes a suite from Le Corsaire and cutting-edge contemporary work by international choreographers.

Don’t miss this unique dance production this Friday at 7 p.m. in Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center. Tickets start at $15.