Trivia
- Dear friend of Anthony Dowell.
- She appeared as guest artist with the Royal Ballet 1980-86.
- Danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Peter Martins, Edward Villella, Anthony Dowell, Stephen Jeffries, Patrick Bissell and Peter Schafuss.
- Her father was Jack Kirkland, a renowned playwright who penned the Broadway adaptations of Tobacco Road and Tortilla Flat.
- She applied for the position of Artistic Director of a major ballet company in Ireland, she declined in favor of teaching directly. She eventually went on to found her own company.
- Her older sister Johnna also studied at the School of American Ballet and danced with the New York City Ballet. Johnna herself was fired from the company for allegedy using drugs. Johnna wound up quitting professional ballet in 1983, two years after breaking her foot (a career-ending injury) and because the company she was then dancing with (the Los Angeles Ballet, which she co-founded) ceased to pay the dancers' salaries. Last heard, she was still living in L.A. but works primarily in an art store--mostly in acrylics and paint, making artisan floor cloths and place mats. Although she retired rather early, videos of her dance performances are available for free to download on the internet.
- Among her injuries throughout her career, Gelsey Kirkland broke her foot, had a hairline fracture, and her feet accumulated blisters, bunions and repeatedly swelled up due to lack of proper circulation from pointework.
- She was featured on the 1 May 1978 cover of Time.
- Balanchine rechoreographed his version of Stravinsky's The Firebird specifically for her.
Read more about this topic: Gelsey Kirkland
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