Q+A with Unity Phelan

Photo courtesy of the New York City Ballet

Unity Phelan is one of the principal dancers with the New York Ballet Company and one of the featured dancers at the 2022 Spoleto Festival. Performing alongside several other dancers. As we spoke over the phone, she told me about her dance background as well as the show that she is currently working on.

Charlotte Hansen: How long have you been dancing?

Unity Phelan: I have been dancing professionally for just about 10 years and I started dancing when I was for quite some time now.

CH: What got you interested in ballet?

UP: There was a fantastic Ballet School in Princeton where I grew up. I'm a year and a half younger than my sister. So when she started, I begged my parents to let me go too because I obviously wanted to be just like my sister, and it kind of just stuck. I really liked it. I don't know if it was the discipline or the movement itself. But ever since I was little, I always really liked it. It was like, if my parents would always say “If you don't do well in school, we're not gonna let you do ballet”. It wasn't like "we're gonna take away dessert or we're not going to let you play video games."

CH: Has there been anyone that you've enjoyed working with? I saw in your bio that you were the Sugar Plum Fairy at one point.

UP: Yes, I love the character. I love the Sugar Plum Fairy. It's one of my favorite roles. But I think that working with individuals I love working with choreographers, so I've gotten lucky enough to work with Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck. Will Forsythe was incredible. Laura Lovette and I work very well together. I loved it. I think getting to work with such a wide range of choreographers is what kind of keeps it so fresh. Being a dancer I really enjoy getting opportunities to work with different directors.

CH: Is there a dream role that you hope to dance one day?

UP: Yeah, absolutely. I am dying to dance Symphony in C by Balanchine and I've always wanted to do The Concert by Jerome Robbins as well. It's so funny because every season we have a New York City Ballet. I have a new favorite ballet or a new dream ballet. So those are pretty high in my mind, but there are plenty of dream ballets to get to.

CH: This is a question for a 16-year-old friend of mine who's in training to be a dancer. Do you have any tips for dancers who are just learning how to dance en pointe?

UP: I definitely would say do a lot of relevés. Relevés are when we go up and down on our feet. And that will really strengthen your ankles. I think strengthening your ankles and getting strong and getting used to it is really important because that's injury prevention. And pointe shoes are really beautiful and really fun. But they're also much more dangerous than non-pointe shoes. So definitely some injury prevention is a very good idea.

CH: What do you like to do when you're not dancing on the stage for the world?

UP: I love cross training. So I know a lot of different kinds of cross training. Cooking. I'm a big foodie. So I like to eat really well. I have a dog, so I hang out with my dog a lot. But I try to not dance if I'm not working. I try to take the time and actually not work and take some time off.

CH: Is there a favorite place that you like to dance, like a favorite theater or favorite town?

UP: Yes, I got to go to the Ravello festival a couple years ago in Italy and that was I think my favorite stage was overlooking the Amalfi Coast. It was absolutely incredible. And I mean, I loved it. I go to the Vail Dance Festival most summers. And of course the theater in New York is amazing. But I think traveling and getting to share dance with people who don't get to see it all the time is really, really fun for us and for me.

CH: Last question. What are you planning on doing after Spoleto’s over? What comes next?

UP: Oh, I joined the New York City Ballet in Washington DC for a week and we perform at the Kennedy Center. So going straight from one place to another. And then throughout the summer I'm going to Saratoga Springs with the company then to the Vail Dance Festival. So I've a bit more dancing to do but it'll be really fun. I love the summer and getting to kind of tour the United States and dance in different places.