✰PREMIUMGillian Murphy to give farewell performance with American Ballet Theater in July

LINCOLN CENTER — American Ballet Theatre (ABT) announced on Monday, Dec. 9, that Gillian Murphy, an internationally celebrated principal dancer since 2002, will take her final bow in July 2025 at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Murphy performed at BAM in ABT’s production of “The Nutcracker” at the Howard Gilman Opera House in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Longtime ABT benefactors and sponsors of Murphy are Brooklyn residents Ted and Mary Jo Shen. The Shens are among numerous key supporters of ABT who live in Brooklyn. Indeed, many of ABT’s performers and staff also reside in Brooklyn.

“Congratulations, Gillian, on your stellar career at ABT, throughout which you have thrilled your audiences with your extraordinary artistry, virtuosity and radiance,” the Shens said of Murphy’s retirement. “We shall always carry your scintillating performances in our memories and are  deeply grateful for the special joy and privilege of having served as your ABT sponsors over the past 10 years!”

ABT, revered as a national treasure since its founding season in 1940, has many connections to Brooklyn. One of the co-founders was longtime Heights resident Oliver Smith, owner of the famous house on Willow Street where Truman Capote camped out for years. Smith was a famous designer whose sets are still being used by ABT.

ABT still uses Oliver Smith’s set designs for its productions of Jerome Robbins’s “Fancy Free” and Agnes de Mille’s “Rodeo.” Those are the only two ballets for which he designed sets that ABT has performed in recent years. ABT last performed “Fancy” in 2018 and “Rodeo” in 2015.

In 2006, by an act of Congress, ABT was designated America’s National Ballet Company. Based in New…