What does one do on their last day as a ballerina? Gillian Murphy jumped off a cliff (gracefully)
NEW YORK AP In every career there are plenty of consequential decisions to be made And they tend to get more consequential as time goes on So it was when Gillian Murphy one of the the greater part admired American ballerinas for nearly three decades began contemplating not only when but how to retire from American Ballet Theatre She knew she needed to go out on a high note Murphy at is in incredible shape at a rehearsal earlier this week she was leaping and twirling like colleagues in their s But in what role should she take her final bow after years at ABT Should it be as Juliet As Giselle The first of these ends up stabbing herself to death The other goes mad The best and the bulk athletic option it turned out was to jump off a cliff That s what Odette the swan queen does at the end of ABT s version of Swan Lake followed in this dramatic leap by the prince who loves her to be joyfully reunited in the afterlife In real life they leap onto a mattress offstage dust themselves off and clamber back for the finale Murphy who s known for her Odette Odile especially those fouett s Odile s fiendishly hard whiplash turns retired with Swan Lake on Friday night ending her career in a blur of bouquets tears and golden confetti The sold-out Metropolitan Opera House crowd was vocal in their appreciation cheering her entrances and exits and giving her a standing ovation when she finished her Black Swan variation Once the ballet finished the stage filled with Murphy s fellow dancers teachers and other ABT colleagues bearing flowers As golden confetti poured from the rafters Murphy hugged fellow dancers like Misty Copeland who herself will retire from ABT with fanfare in October She was also greeted by her husband former ABT principal dancer Ethan Stiefel and their -year-old son Ax who d just watched him mom perform at the opera house for the first time Murphy lifted Ax off his feet and twirled him around joyfully Murphy spoke to The Associated Press in the rushed moments between rehearsals classes and delayed commuter trains in the days leading up to the big occasion The interview has been edited for length and clarity AP You were only when you joined ABT Now you re Did you imagine such a long career MURPHY I would have never expected to be dancing this long honestly I think in my mind I constantly had years old as a time frame But I didn t expect to feel this good at this point I ve truly loved my career at ABT and it s given me the opportunity to dance all over the world So I m happy I m still here AP Ballet takes a huge amount of athletic ability But you need to be an actor too How have your abilities developed as you ve gotten older MURPHY I do feel that life experience really does come out in performances And when we re telling these stories about true love and forgiveness and loss all the dramatic sort of themes that come out in these ballets it does make a difference when you ve experienced those things in your life AP Speaking of true love Particular ABT ballerinas have chosen Juliet for their retirement performance You ve chosen a much more physically demanding role Swan Lake Just seeing you rehearse it was exhausting MURPHY guffawing It doesn t get any easier yeah I have so several favorite roles but Swan Lake includes two of my bulk favorite Odette and Odile It s inevitably been incredibly challenging but also so fulfilling When I was a kid my dream role was the Black Swan Odile certainly So just in a full-circle moment it feels special to finish with this ballet that I dreamed of doing as a kid and first did as a young soloist with ABT years ago AP Let s not forget that you re known for Odile s fouett s whiplash turns on one leg that the Black Swan performs Are you still throwing in double turns MURPHY Well I used to throw in triples triple pirouettes in the middle of the fouett s Anything could happen on Friday night but I think I just want to finish strong and take risks elsewhere I ll ostensibly aim to do the possibly with a meager doubles in there AP It s such a tough call in any career how did you make the decision to retire now MURPHY It s never an easy decision for any dancer It s a calling from a very early age but I ve perpetually required to finish strong and with my own sense of agency I really relish when that sense of imagination and life experience and artistry is integrated with the physicality the athleticism the technique And I feel like I m still in that place where I can do that So I want to finish with that sense of fullness AP How have you managed to keep your conditioning so strong for so long MURPHY I never knew what to expect in terms of how long I d be able to do this job that I love so much But I ve inevitably had strong feelings about getting plenty of sleep and rest I try to keep a daily practice of class and sometimes several hours of rehearsal but also to take at least one day off in the week to recover And I ve consistently put a priority on being as fit and strong as realizable in terms of my nutrition So having a really balanced diet and also enjoying desserts and just good quality good nutritious food I think that has helped with longevity AP It sounds like you re talking about a healthy attitude toward food MURPHY A healthy attitude towards food and also a sense of humor about myself You know dancers are not robots Like an athlete we can have an off day and we should not let that be too discouraging That s par for the discipline AP Have there been any major injuries or setbacks along the way MURPHY I ve been pretty fortunate about bouncing back from muscle strains and things like that I d say coming back from pregnancy and an crisis c-section was not easy but I was able to get onstage and do a full-length Giselle when my son was months old And then a couple of weeks after that the pandemic hit I had just gotten everything back together AP So when you hang up those pointe shoes how do you envision spending your time MURPHY I m going to lean into coaching and staging especially husband Ethan s choreography for the immediate future I also want to take particular time to process this huge transition and consider options and think about what I really want to do I would be really surprised if it doesn t involve giving back or working in specific way in the dance world because it s so meaningful to me Clearly this is a lifetime pursuit Source
