Peter Boal

Who is Peter Boal?

Peter Boal is artistic director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and director of its affiliated school in Seattle, Washington. He was born in Bedford, New York, in 1965 and began studies at the School of American Ballet at age nine.

Boal assumed the directorship of Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2005 following a successful career with the New York City Ballet which he joined in 1983 and where he was promoted to soloist in 1987, principal dancer in 1989, and from which he retired in 2005. He received his dance training from SAB under the directorship of George Balanchine.

In 2002, he founded Peter Boal and Company, a critically acclaimed chamber ensemble. Boal joined the faculty of SAB in 1997, teaching technique, variations, men’s and women’s classes, and partnering. He was a guest teacher at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet's school.

Peter Boal gave his final performance at City Ballet on Sunday, June 5, 2005. On a program that also included Robbins’ West Side Story Suite and Balanchine’s Agon, he chose to dance Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer and an excerpt from Apollo, a role for which he was particularly noted.