PRINCETON BALLET SCHOOL ANNOUNCES SPECIAL GUESTS GILLIAN MURPHY AND UNITY PHELAN FOR 2023 SUMMER INTENSIVE

World-Renowned Ballerina to Lead Select Classes for Advanced Ballet Program

Princeton Ballet School is thrilled to announce that Gillian Murphy, Artistic Associate of American Repertory Ballet and principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, and Unity Phelan, principal dancer with New York City Ballet, will be joining us as special guest instructors for select classes during the 2023 Advanced Summer Intensive.

Gillian Murphy is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, and has received critical acclaim for her performances in a wide range of classical and contemporary ballets. She has toured internationally and received numerous awards and accolades for her technical mastery and artistic expression.

Unity Phelan, a principal dancer with New York Ballet and a Princeton Ballet School alum, is known for her exceptional technique and captivating stage presence. She has performed with some of the most prestigious dance companies in the world, and has created works for film and television.

Princeton Ballet School is honored to have such talented and accomplished artists join the faculty for the Advanced Summer Intensive, a five-week program that attracts serious dance students from around the world who wish to improve their technique and artistry.

In addition to Gillian Murphy and Unity Phelan, the faculty includes other highly respected dancers, teachers, and choreographers such as Kathleen Moore, Michael Crawford, Ryoko Tanaka, Rebeca Maso, Luis Napoles, and Ana Novoa.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take your dance training to the next level. Space is limited! Audition in-person, virtually, or by submitting a video. All students must pre-register before auditioning. To register to audition, please visit arballet.org/SI

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ABOUT GILLIAN MURPHY

Gillian Murphy is currently celebrating her twentieth year as a principal ballerina with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and her repertoire includes leading roles in all of ABT’s current full-length classics and in shorter works by luminary choreographers of the past and present. As a teenager, Gillian was awarded the Prix de Lausanne Espoir, and she joined American Ballet Theatre in 1996. After being honored with a Princess Grace Foundation Award, Gillian was promoted to Soloist in 1999 and to Principal Dancer in 2002. She starred as Odette/Odile in ABT’s PBS television production of Swan Lake and as Giselle in the New Zealand Film Commission’s movie of Stiefel and Kobborg’s production of Giselle at the Royal New Zealand Ballet, where she was a Principal Guest Artist for three years. Gillian has danced as a guest artist throughout the world, performing with the Mariinsky Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Staatsballett Berlin, the Kiev Ballet, the Australian Ballet, as a ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera, and in numerous other international engagements and galas. In recent years, she has received a Princess Grace Statue Award and an honorary doctorate from her high school alma mater, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. In 2018, Murphy graduated summa cum laude from St. Mary’s College of California with a Bachelor of Arts, and she completed the Harvard Business School’s “Crossover into Business” program in 2019. Gillian Murphy is the Artistic Associate of American Repertory Ballet.

ABOUT UNITY PHELAN

Unity Phelan was born in Princeton, New Jersey and began her dance training at the age of five at the Princeton Ballet School. During the summers of 2008 and 2009, Ms. Phelan attended the summer sessions at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, and enrolled as a full-time student in fall of 2009. She became an apprentice with NYCB in December 2012 and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2013. In February 2017, Ms. Phelan was promoted to the rank of soloist, and in October 2021, she was promoted to principal dancer.

ABOUT PRINCETON BALLET SCHOOL

Princeton Ballet School, the official school of American Repertory Ballet, is widely respected for its dedication to cultivating the growth of dancers in an innovative and comprehensive way. It is recognized as one of the top non-profit dance schools in the country. There are several factors that contribute to the school’s distinction, including its philosophy, faculty, association with a professional ballet company, use of live music in classes, and facilities. All of these elements work together to create a unique and exceptional dance education experience for students. arballet.org

Princeton Ballet School’s Advance Summer Intensive program is a highly respected and rigorous training program for advanced ballet dancers. The program is designed to provide dancers with the opportunity to improve their technical skills, artistry, and performance abilities through intensive training with top-quality instructors. arballet.org/SI