Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Director of the company’s affiliated school, Peter Boal was a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet for over 20 years. Peter shares with Alicia the importance of moving to Fleetwood Mac in his childhood living room, how he lived a “double life” until classmates saw him perform in The Nutcracker, and what it was like to learn from famed dancer, choreographer, and director Jerome Robbins. He also discusses his arrival at PNB, how he has worked to broaden audience involvement and widen the company’s approach to inclusivity. Peter discusses his new memoir and gives Alicia a valuable parenting tip.
Moving Moments podcast is your ticket to candid conversations featuring the dance world’s most accomplished and groundbreaking artists. Join Dean and Director of Dance at The Juilliard School Alicia Graf Mack as she sits down with her closest colleagues and friends to discuss the creative process and living a purposeful life in dance.
Greetings from the Wizarding World! I am one of Beaufort’s new interns, DumBEAUledore, here to make sure that your summer is filled with well-written books, a little bit of magic, and a whole lot of fun. And, I promise, I will try to keep the Harry Potter puns to a minimum.
I am a rising junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in English/Comparative Literature and American Studies. I am also minoring in Creative Writing, so interning at Beaufort is right up my (Diagon) alley! When I’m not in Chapel Hill, I’m at my family farm in the middle-of-nowhere-North-Carolina, where we raise cattle and grow watermelons. I have a meticulously organized bookshelf and a dog that drives me crazy. And, of course, the fun fact that everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for: I am a Slytherin. I know. Apologies in advance.
Now, I’m sure that you all have heard about the new Harry Potter TV series. And, based on my name, you can probably tell that I have quite a few opinions on it. Alas, that will have to be saved for another blog post. However, in honor of this new series, today I will be going through a few books that I think deserve to have movie or TV adaptations.
I just finished reading this book and think that the main character, Charlie Raede, and his loveable dog, Radar, are the perfect coming-of-age duo that everyone expects from King’s novels. With a spellbinding and dark twist on the fairy tales we all grew up with, Fairy Tale’s fantastical scenery and enchanting characters would glow on the big screen.
As a UNC student, I can’t help but be drawn to books that are set there, and Legendborn is no exception. A UNC alumnus herself, Deonn uses both the lore and layout of the campus in a way that grabs readers’ attention and refuses to let go. If you love Authurian legend and magic, I think that you can agree this modern-day twist on a well-loved classic would make an amazing TV series.
Now, I know, this book technically already has a TV show based on it. Don’t get me wrong, Shadow and Bone is an amazing series (I have personally binge-watched all of it). But, I think that the Crows deserve their own TV show! With two books— Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom— to work with, I think that there is plenty of material for at least two seasons of a TV series.
A friend gave me a copy of this book back in December, and it quickly became one of my favorites. With a charming cast of side characters and an adorable love story, this book is fuzzy all the way around. My personal favorite character is a young boy named Lucy (short for Lucifer, of course). If this ever gets turned into a movie (fingers crossed), I will be first in line at the theater.
I must admit, I am always a sucker for a movie about ballet, and I know that this book would make an amazing one. Boal’s journey from Bedford, New York to principal dancer for the New York City Ballet is the exact type of coming-of-age memoir that would shine on the big screen. By exploring topics such as sexuality, alcoholism, morality, and race, Boal doesn’t shy away from the hard parts of life.
This book is, in my opinion, a quintessential piece of Persian literature. Set in Iran during World War II, Daneshvar captures the day-to-day life of a young mother trying to protect her family. With a scalding critique on the occupation of Iran, this book combines history, folk tradition, and feminism in a way that demands for readers to pay attention. Additionally, the ending of this book is one of the best I have ever read.
If you haven’t read these books yet, I highly recommend it. You never know, they may be the next big thing.
Peter Boal paints a star-studded picture of what it takes to make it as the Principal Dancer for the New York City Ballet and beyond
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, New York — Peter’s story starts in the pastoral and privileged town of Bedford, New York: a rare enclave 40 miles north of New York City where private schools, country clubs, and families hold their own rules and secrets. Within the town, views of race, morality, and sexuality are unspoken yet evident. Meanwhile, at home, Peter and his family are left to grapple with his father’s alcoholism and untimely death. As a young boy finding his way, Peter soon turns to ballet. Ultimately his passion becomes a beacon, leading him to work at the New York City Ballet as a teenager, living on his own while discovering the pitfalls and pleasures Manhattan has to offer.
Throughout Peter’s deeply personal work, you’ll step onto the club house floor during ballroom dancing lessons in Bedford, into the studios of the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, and onto the stage in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker as Peter performs the title role of the Nutcracker Prince. For all the laughter these stories offer, gravity is everywhere.
Peter’s journey takes us to the start of a storied career as a dancer with the New York City Ballet and leaves us with insights into the unique path of an artist and individual shaped by environment, circumstance, and family.
“A multi-functional memoir. It’s a generous, grateful account of discovering ballet as a career; and it’s about the discovery of friends, sexuality, values, and manners…In Boal’s writing, every word and every sentence matter. Subtle variations of tone take the reader, enchantingly, between charm, pain, and humour, often in the course of a paragraph.”
— Alastair Macaulay, New York Times, Chief Dance Critic 2007-2018
Illusions of Camelot
Peter Boal – May 2023
ISBN: 9780825309830
Hardcover: $24.95 || Ebook: $14.99
###
Beaufort Books is an independent publisher based in New York City. Beaufort publishes a mix of non-fiction and fiction titles, with about 15–20 new titles each year. Since 2007, we’ve published four New York Times bestsellers.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Emma St. John at emma@beaufortbooks.com.
Peter Boal was raised in Bedford, New York. At the age of nine, he began studying ballet at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet. Mr. Boal became a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet in 1983 and became a principal dancer in 1989. In 2005, he retired from New York City Ballet after a 22-year career with the company. Mr. Boal was also a full-time faculty member at the School of American Ballet from 1997 to 2005. In 2003, he founded Peter Boal and Company, a critically acclaimed chamber ensemble.
