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ABT News

August 19, 2009

ISABELLA BOYLSTON AWARDED
PRINCESS GRACE FOUNDATION
DANCE FELLOWSHIP

Gillian Murphy receives Statue Award

Isabella Boylston, a member of American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet, is a recipient of the 2009 Princess Grace Award. The Award, a Dance Fellowship, was one of four fellowships granted in the Dance and Choreography category. The Princess Grace Foundation-USA announced the annual awards on August 11 in New York City.

Gillian Murphy, a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre and previous Princess Grace awardee (1998), received this year’s Statue Award. The Statue Award honors past winners of Princess Grace Awards who have distinguished themselves in their artistic discipline since winning the initial award.

Born in Sun Valley, Idaho, Isabella Boylston began dancing at the age of three. She trained at the Academy of Colorado Ballet and won the gold medal at the 2001 Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City. In 2002, she trained at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida on a full scholarship and was awarded the Reuger Scholarship in 2004 for excellence in dance. She attended numerous summer programs including the School of American Ballet, Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre and joined ABT’s Studio Company (now ABT II) in 2005. Ms. Boylston joined ABT as an apprentice in 2006 and became a member of the corps de ballet in March 2007. Her repertory with the Company includes an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, a flower girl in Don Quixote, the peasant pas de deux and Moyna in Giselle, the pas de trois in Swan Lake, and roles in Ballo della Regina, Brief Fling, Désir and From Here On Out. She created a leading role in Citizen by Lauri Stallings.

Gillian Murphy joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in August 1996. She was promoted to Soloist in 1999 and to Principal Dancer in
2002. Her repertoire with ABT includes leading and title roles in all the major classical ballets, as well as leading roles in the works of George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp and Antony Tudor. Ms. Murphy is a charter member of Stiefel & Stars and directed a training program for young dancers, Dreamcatchers, on Martha’s Vineyard.

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA, a public charity, was formed after the death of Princess Grace in 1982. The Foundation awards scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships to emerging theater, dance and film artists to assist with career development. The 2009 winners will receive their awards at the annual black-tie Princess Grace Awards Gala, with HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco in attendance, on October 21 in New York City.

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