Tiler Peck

Tiler Kalyn Peck is a New York City Ballet principal dancer distinguished by musical responsiveness, wide stylistic range, and an expanding career as a choreographer and curator. Born in Bakersfield, California, Peck began moving at age two in her mother Georgia Peck's studio, where her training was unusually broad—ballet alongside jazz, tap, and commercial dance. At seven she began private ballet study with former Bolshoi principal Alla Khaniashvili; by eleven she was working with former NYCB dancers Colleen and Patricia Neary and studying with former NYCB principal Yvonne Mounsey at Westside School of Ballet.

Peck's route to New York included Broadway. At eleven she appeared on stage as Gracie Shinn in *The Music Man*. She attended the School of American Ballet during the 2000–01 winter term, returned for the 2002 and 2003 summer sessions, and became a full-time student in fall 2003. New York City Ballet accepted her as an apprentice in September 2004 and into the corps de ballet in February 2005. Her promotions followed quickly: soloist in December 2006 and principal dancer in October 2009. Her repertory grew across major works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins and new works by choreographers including Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, and Kyle Abraham.

Peck maintained a crossover career without treating Broadway and concert ballet as interchangeable forms. She played the title role in Susan Stroman's *Little Dancer* at the Kennedy Center, appeared in *On the Town*, and performed in nationally broadcast Kennedy Center Honors tributes to Natalia Makarova in 2012 and Patricia McBride in 2014. Her honors include a 2004 Princess Grace Dance Scholarship, the Foundation's 2013 Statue Award, and a 2016 Dance Magazine Award. During the COVID-19 shutdown she built the #TurnItOutWithTiler online class initiative, extending her public role as a teacher and community convener.

Choreography became a major second strand of her career. Her first commission for NYCB, *Concerto for Two Pianos*, premiered February 1, 2024 to Francis Poulenc's score. Her second NYCB work, *Symphonie Espagnole*, premiered May 7, 2026: a 40-dancer ballet set to Édouard Lalo, with costumes by Robert Perdziola, lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker, and Hilary Hahn as guest violinist at the premiere.