Matthew Neenan

Choreographer, The Last Glass

Matthew Neenan began his dance training at the Boston Ballet School and with noted teachers Nan C. Keating and Jacqueline Cronsberg. He later attended the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and the School of American Ballet in New York. From 1994-2007, Neenan danced with Pennsylvania Ballet where he danced numerous principal roles in works by George Balanchine, John Cranko, Paul Taylor, Peter Martins, Val Caniparoli, Jorma Elo, Lila York, Meredith Rainey, Christopher Wheeldon and Jerome Robbins. In October 2007, Neenan was named Choreographer in Residence at Pennsylvania Ballet.

Matthew Neenan’s choreography has been featured and performed by Pennsylvania Ballet (totaling 13 commissions), BalletX, The Washington Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Juilliard Dance, New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, Sacramento Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Indiana University, Opera Company of Philadelphia and LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts (NYC), among others. He has received numerous awards and grants for his choreography from the National Endowment of the Arts, Dance Advance funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Choo San Goh Foundation, and the Independence Foundation. In 2006, Neenan received the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute’s Fellowship Initiative Award. Neenan’s Carmina Burana, As It’s Going and 11:11 was performed by Pennsylvania Ballet at New York City Center in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he received a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. This marks his fourth time receiving the PCA fellowship. In October 2009, Neenan was the grand-prize winner of Sacramento Ballet’s Capital Choreography Competition and was also the first recipient of the Jerome Robbins NEW Program Fellowship for his work At the border for Pennsylvania Ballet.

In 2005, Matthew Neenan co-founded BalletX with fellow dancer Christine Cox. BalletX had its world premiere at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival in September 2005 and is now the resident dance company at the prestigious Wilma Theatre. BalletX has toured and performed Neenan’s choreography in New York City at The Skirball Center and Symphony Space, Jacob’s Pillow Festival, The Cerritos Center, Laguna Dance Festival, Spring to Dance Festival in St. Louis, and internationally in Cali, Colombia and Seoul, Korea.

Matthew Neenan was recently named Best Dance Talent by the editors of Philadelphia Magazine’s annual “Best of Philly” list. He currently serves on the Dance USA/Philadelphia Advisory board and recently joined the Board of Trustees for National Dance USA in November 2010.