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The Company

Gillian Murphy

Florence, South Carolina

Joined ABT 1996 / Principal 2002-2025

Repertoire

* created role

"For me, on the stage, it's a full immersion into making the most of that moment—and it's such a fleeting moment and art. It doesn't have to be perfect. The idea of perfection, I think, is something to aspire to in terms of how to have more clarity and precision and shapes to our classical lines. But ultimately, when I'm sitting in the audience, I want to be moved. I don't enjoy watching people dance who are just executing steps. I feel dance really has to speak to something deeper within. The choreography is there as a means to that expression and artistry and imagination, not as a be all and end all in itself."

-Gillian Murphy, Pointe Magazine

Milestones

1996

Joined Corps de Ballet August 1996

1998

Won Princess Grace Award

1999

Promoted to Soloist August 1999

2002

Promoted to Principal Dancer August 2002

Gillian Murphy

Gillian Murphy in Swan Lake. Photo: Gene Schiavone.

2005

Starred as Odette/Odile in ABT PBS Swan Lake Broadcast

2008

Guested with the Mariinsky Ballet as Odette/Odile

2009

Honored with the Princess Grace Statue Award

2014

Received honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts

2015

Married longtime boyfriend Ethan Stiefel