Kirkland, Gelsey (1952– )

US ballet dancer. She danced with seemingly effortless technique and innate musicality. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1968, where George Balanchine staged a new Firebird for her (1970) and Jerome Robbins chose her for his Goldberg Variations (1971) and other ballets. In 1974 Mikhail Baryshnikov sought her out and she joined the American Ballet Theater in 1975, where they danced in partnership, for example in Giselle.

She was, however, plagued by personal and emotional problems, including cocaine addiction, documented in her autobiography Dancing on my Grave (1986), and her career declined after 1976. She later appeared sporadically with the American Ballet Theater and also made several appearances for the Royal Ballet, London, as in Romeo and Juliet (1986).