How a Freelancer’s Career Compares to a Full-Time Company Member’s

When Kaitlyn Gilliland was an apprentice with New York City Ballet in 2006, choreographer Eliot Feld created Étoile Polaire for her, a 12-minute solo that predicted the person and artist Gilliland would eventually become—a force transitioning gracefully through different realms with a powerful sense of self. After leaving NYCB, Gilliland went on to have a […]

On Her Own: Kaitlyn Gilliland Goes Freelance

Kaitlyn Gilliland is arguably the busiest freelance dancer in New York. Which is perhaps not the path that many expected the former New York City Ballet prodigy to tread. But as she moves through a dress rehearsal of Miro Magloire’s Quartet one evening in November, she demonstrates the qualities that make so many choreographers want […]

Why I Dance: Kaitlyn Gilliland

Gilliland with Rina Barrantes in Intermezzo’s Verdi String Quartet, section choreographed by Marcelo Gomes. Photo by Sarah Sterner, Courtesy Intermezzo Dance Company. Even as a student at School of American Ballet, Kaitlyn Gilliland stood out. Willowy and elegant, she had a classical silhouette and a bold, contemporary energy. After training at Minnesota Dance Theatre, at […]