What is Gelsey Kirkland?
'''Gelsey Kirkland''' (born December 29, 1952) is an American [[ballerina]]. She was born in [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]]. Kirkland joined the [[New York City Ballet]] in 1968 at age 15. She was promoted to soloist in 1969, and principal in 1972. She went on to create leading roles in many of the great twentieth century ballets by Balanchine, [[Jerome Robbins]], and [[Antony Tudor]]. She appeared in Balanchine's revival of ''[[The Firebird]]'', Robbins' ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'', and Tudor's ''The Leaves are Fading''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919577-5,00.html|author=Paul Gray|title=Dance: U.S. Ballet Soars|work=Time|date=May 1, 1978|access-date=June 25, 2008|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154834/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919577-5,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> She left the New York City Ballet to join the American Ballet Theatre in 1974. She is best known for dancing the role of Clara Stahlbaum in Baryshnikov's 1977 televised production of ''[[The Nutcracker]]''. She left the [[American Ballet Theatre]] in 1984. ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, Gelsey}} [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American dancers]] [[Category:Entertainers from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]] {{US-bio-stub}} {{authority control}}