American Ballet Theatre’s longest-standing current dancer, Gillian Murphy, will take her final bow during the company’s 2025 summer season as Odette/Odile in Kevin McKenzie’s version of Swan Lake. A Principal Dancer with ABT since 2002, Murphy steadily rose through the ranks after joining the corps de ballet in 1996 and then being promoted to soloist in 1999.
Audiences at the July 18th performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City will witness Murphy’s farewell to a 29-year career during which, along with her nearly three decades at ABT, she was a guest artist with the Australian Ballet, the Staatsballett Berlin, the Kiev Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, and three years as Principal Guest Artist with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Murphy’s final performances will be:
Swan Lake
Saturday, June 14 at 7:30 PM
Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works
Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 PM
Giselle
Wednesday, June 25 at 2:00 PM
Swan Lake [SOLD OUT]
Friday, July 18 at 7:30 PM
“Gillian’s contribution to the ballet world is deep and wide. Her intelligence and artistry, coupled with the strength of her technique, her authentic feminine presence, and her versatility have inspired all of us for many years. I can say with the utmost conviction that her performances will be dearly missed by everyone.
Still, the beauty of her essence will live on in our hearts forever.”
– Susan Jaffe, Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre
Before embarking on her illustrious professional career, the Florence, South Carolina native studied at Columbia City Ballet and University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). During her years as a student, she went on to receive prestigious recognitions including the Prix de Lausanne Espoir (1995), a National YoungArts Foundation Winner in Dance (1996), and a Princess Grace Foundation-USA grant (1998).
As a professional, the Princess Grace Foundation awarded her its highest honor, the Statue Award (2009) and her alma mater UNCSA awarded her an Honorary Doctorate (2014).
Gillian Murphy Bids Farewell to a Distinguished Stage Career
Gillian Murphy created several roles during her career including Clara, the Princess, in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker and Pierrette in Ratmansky’s Harlequinade, as well as leading and featured roles in:
- Her Notes
- Kaleidoscope
- Rabbit and Rogue
- Thirteen Diversions
- After You
- Dream within a Dream (deferred)
- Glow – Stop, One of Three
- Praedicere
- Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison
Murphy’s roles in the classical ballet canon include:
- Swanilda in Coppélia
- Kitri in Don Quixote
- Giselle and Myrta in Giselle
- Nikiya and Gamzatti in La Bayadère
- Medora and Gulnare in Le Corsaire
- Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
- Odette/Odile in Swan Lake
- The Sugar Plum Fairy in Kevin McKenzie’s The Nutcracker
- Princess Aurora and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty
Her other repertory with American Ballet Theatre includes:
- The Ballerina in The Bright Stream
- Titania in The Dream
- The Accused in Fall River Legend
- Lise in La Fille mal gardée
- Grand Pas Classique
- Mama Elena in Like Water for Chocolate
- Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon
- Desdemona in Othello
- Other Dances
- Hagar in Pillar of Fire
- Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
- Princess Tea Flower in Whipped Cream
- Virginia Woolf/Older Clarissa and “Tuesday” in Woolf Works
Murphy, who graduated summa cum laude from St. Mary’s College of California with a Bachelor of Arts, has also completed the Harvard Business School’s “Crossover into Business” program.
She is currently the Artistic Associate at American Repertory Ballet where her husband, former ABT Principal Dancer Ethan Stiefel, is the Artist in Residence.
Featured Photo of American Ballet Theatre‘s Gillian Murphy and former ABT Principal Dancer David Hallberg in Swan Lake. Photo by Gene Schiavone.
