UpClose: Artist-In-Residence Calvin Royal III

Calvin Royal III // Artist-In-Residence

Calvin Royal III began his formal dance training under the direction of Suzanne Pomerantzeff and Patricia L. Paige at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, Florida.  He was a finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix Scholarship Competition in New York City in April 2006 and joined the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in September 2006.  Royal was the recipient of the Ethan Stiefel Scholarship in 2006 and 2007.  While at the ABT JKO School, Royal appeared in original works by Raymond Lukens and Jessica Lang.

Royal joined ABT II (now ABT Studio Company) in December 2007 and danced leading roles including Prince Siegfried in the White Swan and Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Jerome Robbins’ Interplay, Antony Tudor’s Continuo, and works by Edward Liaang, Aszure Barton, Jodie Gates and Brian Reeder.

Royal joined the main Company as an apprentice in October 2010 and the corps de ballet in April 2011.  He was appointed a Soloist in September 2017 and Principal Dancer in September 2020. His repertoire with the Company includes the title role in Apollo, a Cavalier in Cinderella, Dorcon in Daphnis and Chloe, Espada in Don Quixote, the third sailor in Fancy Free, Persian Man in The Golden Cockerel, Pierrot in Alexei Ratmansky’s Harlequinade, Reverend Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre, Lescaut in Manon, the Recruit in Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, a Carnival Dancer in Othello, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, the Spanish Prince and Prince Fortune in The Sleeping Beauty, von Rothbart, Benno and the Spanish Dance in Swan Lake, Jaseion in Sylvia, Prince Coffee and Prince Cocoa in Whipped Cream, leading roles in Bach Partita, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Her Notes, Piano Concerto #1, Seven Sonatas, Symphonic Variations and Thirteen Diversions and featured roles in AfterEffect, Black Tuesday, Clear, Company B, Deuce Coupe, Duets, In the Upper Room, Raymonda Divertissements and Sinfonietta.

He created the North Wind in A Gathering of Ghosts, Bacchus in The Seasons, a Fairy Cavalier in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, leading roles in AFTERITE, Serenade after Plato’s Symposium and Songs of Bukovina and featured roles in After You, Aftereffect (first production), AfterEffect, Dream within a Dream (deferred), New American Romance and Praedicere.

Royal was named a finalist at the 2013 Clive Barnes Awards and, in 2014, was awarded the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship to further his artistic development. Royal has been featured in global campaigns for GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Target, Ralph Lauren and Canali. He was featured in the 2019 Pirelli Calendar alongside Misty Copeland, photographed by famed Scottish fashion, celebrity, and art photographer Albert Watson.

Royal was named the 2020-2021 Artist-in-Residence for the Vail Dance Festival in Vail, Colorado.

Isabella Boylston

Born in Sun Valley, Idaho, Isabella Boylston began dancing at the age of three. While training at the Academy of Colorado Ballet, she won the gold medal in 2001 at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City. In 2002, she began training at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, on a full scholarship.

Boylston joined the ABT Studio Company in 2005, the main Company as an apprentice in May 2006 and the corps de ballet in March 2007. She was promoted to Soloist in June 2011 and to Principal Dancer in August 2014.

Her repertory with the Company includes Nikiya and Gamzatti in La Bayadère, the Ballerina in The Bright Stream, Fairy Godmother and the Fairy Summer in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, Moss in James Kudelka’s Cinderella, Aurora in Coppélia, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Chloe in Daphnis and Chloe, Kitri and a flower girl in Don Quixote, the second girl in Fancy Free, Lise in La Fille mal gardée, the title role in Alexei Ratmansky’s Firebird, Giselle, the peasant pas de deux and Moyna in Giselle, the title role in Jane Eyre, Manon and Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon, Clara the Princess in The Nutcracker, Olga in Onegin, Other Dances, Juliet and a Harlot in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Aurora and Princess Florine in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Princess Florine and the Fairy of Fervor in The Sleeping Beauty, Odette/Odile, the pas de trois and the Polish Princess in Swan Lake, the Mazurka in Les Sylphides, Sylvia and Persephone in Sylvia, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, the lead in Theme and Variations, Princess Tea Flower in Whipped Cream, leading roles in AFTERITE, Bach Partita, Ballo della Regina, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Désir, Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, Her Notes, From Here On Out, Let Me Sing Forevermore, Monotones I, Songs of Bukovina, Symphonie Concertante, Symphony in C and With a Chance of Rain, and featured roles in After You, Birthday Offering, Brief Fling, Deuce Coupe, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, In the Upper Room, Gong, The Leaves Are Fading and Sinfonietta.

Boylston created Columbine in Alexei Ratmansky’s Harlequinade, The Spirit of the Corn in Ratmansky’s The Seasons, the Diamond Fairy in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, leading roles in Ratmansky’s Chamber Symphony, Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions and Gemma Bond’s A Time There Was, and featured roles in Lauri Stallings’ Citizen, Ratmansky’s Dumbarton and Demis Volpi’s Private Light.

Boylston won the 2009 Princess Grace Award and was nominated for the 2010 Prix Benois de la Danse. In 2011 she received the Clive Barnes Award. She was the recipient of the 2014 Annenberg Fellowship.

She has appeared as a guest artist with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg and the Royal Danish Ballet.

Isabella was featured as the Artist-In-Residence for the 2016 Vail Dance Festival.

Unity Phelan

Unity Phelan is a Soloist with New York City Ballet. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, she began her dance training at age 5 at the Princeton Ballet School and came to the School of American Ballet in 2009. Named an NYCB apprentice in 2012, she joined the NYCB corps de ballet in 2013 and was promoted to Soloist in 2017. Her repertory includes leading roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Robert Binet, William Forsythe, Lauren Lovette, Peter Martins, Matthew Neenan, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon.

Melissa Toogood

Melissa Toogood is a New York Dance and Performance Award winning Performer. She is Dancer, Rehearsal Director and Artistic Associate for Pam Tanowitz Dance. Melissa was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, has taught Cunningham Technique internationally since 2007, is a 2013 & 2015 Merce Cunningham fellow, and is an official stager for the Merce Cunningham Trust. She has performed with Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Kimberly Bartosik, Wally Cardona, Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, Stephen Petronio Company, Miro Dance Theater, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Reiner, Sally Silvers, Michael Uthoff Dance Theater, Christopher Williams, The Bang Group:Tap Lab, and others. She has made work for New York Theater Ballet, Boston Ballet, Vail Dance Festival and created her own show titled Set A|Part in collaboration with her sister Jodie Toogood and visual artist Kenneth E. Parris III. Dance Magazine named her in their 25 to watch (2014) and featured her in the inaugural episode of Behind the Curtain. Toogood is originally from Sydney, Australia, is a proud mom, and holds a B.F.A in Dance Performance from New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL.

Mira Nadon

Mira Nadon is a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Inland Pacific Ballet Academy in Montclair, California under the direction of Victoria Keonig and Jill Voznick. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of NYCB, in 2014 and 2015, before entering SAB full-time for the 2015 winter term. In November 2017, Ms. Nadon became an apprentice with NYCB and as an apprentice. She joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2018.

Tiler Peck

Tiler Peck is a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet. Born in Bakersfield, CA, she began her dance training at age 2 at Bakersfield Dance Company, and studied with Alla Khaniashvili as well as Conjunctive Point and the Westside School of Ballet before coming to the School of American Ballet in 2003. Named an NYCB apprentice in 2004, she joined the NYCB corps de ballet in 2005, was promoted to Soloist in 2006, and to Principal Dancer in 2009. Her repertory includes leading roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon, among many others.