# Cynthia Gregory > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cynthia_Gregory > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cynthia_Gregory.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Gregory > Source revision: 1348781806 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American former prima ballerina (born 1946)}} '''Cynthia Kathleen Gregory''' (born July 8, 1946) is an American former [prima ballerina](/source/prima_ballerina). ==Career== Born in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles), Gregory took up dancing when she was five, with the encouragement of her parents, who hoped exercise would stem her history of childhood illnesses. A performance by [Margot Fonteyn](/source/Margot_Fonteyn) and [Rudolf Nureyev](/source/Rudolf_Nureyev) had inspired young Cynthia to study ballet. By age six, she was ''en pointe''; and at age seven, she first appeared on the cover of [Dance Magazine](/source/Dance_Magazine). She would eventually go on to dance with Nureyev in a production of ''Romeo and Juliet,'' which he had originated with Fonteyn as Juliet. He has called Gregory "America's [Prima ballerina assoluta](/source/Prima_ballerina_assoluta)." Much of Gregory’s early training was with [Carmelita Maracci](/source/Carmelita_Maracci). Awarded a [Ford Foundation](/source/Ford_Foundation) scholarship at age 14 to study with the [San Francisco Ballet](/source/San_Francisco_Ballet), she quickly rose to soloist and became shortly thereafter a principal dancer, while also dancing with the [San Francisco Opera](/source/San_Francisco_Opera). Living now in New York at the Rehearsal Club, Gregory joined [American Ballet Theatre](/source/American_Ballet_Theatre) (ABT) in 1965. In 1967, when ABT was on tour in San Francisco, Gregory made an auspicious debut as Odette-Odile in [Swan Lake](/source/Swan_Lake). Her New York debut in that role later the same year marked her emergence as a major ballerina. The role is one in which her performance is still recognized as definitive. Gregory’s other lead roles include classical performances in ''[Giselle](/source/Giselle)'', ''[Sleeping Beauty](/source/The_Sleeping_Beauty_(ballet))'', ''[Coppélia](/source/Copp%C3%A9lia)'', ''[Don Quixote](/source/Don_Quixote_(ballet))'', ''[La Sylphide](/source/La_Sylphide)'', as well as contemporary works including ''The Eternal Idol'' and ''At Midnight''. At ABT alone, Gregory danced in over eighty works, including over a dozen created for her. In 1986, Gregory was chosen to open the newly refurbished Paramount Theater in [Wilkes-Barre](/source/Wilkes-Barre), Pennsylvania, when it became the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. Gregory resigned from ABT in 1991 to pursue a more varied repertoire. She continued to perform as a permanent guest artist with [Cleveland San Jose Ballet](/source/Cleveland_San_Jose_Ballet), Dances...Patrelle and Connecticut Ballet Theatre until ending her public performances in 1992. Her career included guest performances with leading dance companies of the world, including [National Ballet of Canada](/source/National_Ballet_of_Canada), [Zurich Ballet](/source/Zurich_Ballet), [San Francisco Ballet](/source/San_Francisco_Ballet), [Vienna State Opera Ballet](/source/Vienna_State_Opera_Ballet), [Ballet Nacional de Cuba](/source/Ballet_Nacional_de_Cuba), and [Stuttgart Ballet](/source/Stuttgart_Ballet). She also appeared with [Linda Ronstadt](/source/Linda_Ronstadt) in Ronstadt’s music video of “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Gregory presently stages classical ballets, coaches and gives master dance classes for dance companies around the world. Her choreographic works include her solo to Bach’s “Air on the G String,” as well as a two-minute rock video for [Campbell's Soup](/source/Campbell's_Soup). She has been featured in advertising campaigns for [American Express](/source/American_Express) (“Do you know me? You know my toes!”), [Raytheon](/source/Raytheon), and [Rolex](/source/Rolex). Gregory served as Chairman of the Board of [Career Transition For Dancers](/source/Career_Transition_For_Dancers) (a not-for-profit organization that provides career counseling, scholarships and other vital services to dancers who, for reasons of age or injury, are making a career change) from 1991 to 2015, when [Career Transition For Dancers](/source/Career_Transition_For_Dancers) merged with the [Actors Fund of America](/source/Actors_Fund_of_America). Since 2008, Gregory has been a member of the board of directors of the [Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation](/source/Isadora_Duncan_Dance_Foundation), a non-profit organization dedicated to extending the dream, dance legacy and spirit of [Isadora Duncan](/source/Isadora_Duncan). In September 2010, [Nevada Ballet Theatre](/source/Nevada_Ballet_Theatre) appointed Gregory as an artistic advisor.{{cite web |last=Kyser |first=Heidi |title=Cynthia Gregory: Dance dance evolution |url=https://knpr.org/magazine-desert-companion/2011-01-01/cynthia-gregory-dance-dance-evolution |publisher=Desert Companion |date=2011-01-01}} The Cynthia Gregory Center for Coaching was established at the company's Las Vegas studios. ==Honors== Gregory was the recipient of the 1975 Dance Magazine Award, honoring her dedication to, and enrichment of, the art of dance. In 1978 she received the [Harkness Ballet](/source/Harkness_Ballet)’s first annual Dance Award. She is the only two-time recipient annual awards from [Dance Educators of America](/source/Dance_Educators_of_America) (1981 and 1988). In 1988, the now-defunct magazine ''New York Woman'' gave Gregory its first “Showstopper of the Year” award. The [New York Public Library](/source/New_York_Public_Library) designated her a “Lion of the Performing Arts” in 1989. She received the lifetime-achievement Certificate of Merit from the [National Arts Club](/source/National_Arts_Club) in 1991. [Hofstra University](/source/Hofstra_University) awarded Gregory an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 1993, and she received an honorary doctorate from State University of New York–Purchase College in 1995. ==Personal life== Gregory is the daughter of Konstantin (a dress manufacturer) and Marcelle Tremblay Gregory. She married Terrence S. Orr (a fellow dancer with [American Ballet Theatre](/source/American_Ballet_Theatre)) in 1966; they were divorced in 1975. She married John Hemminger (a rock music manager and promoter) in 1976; he died in 1984. She married attorney Hilary B. Miller in 1985; they were divorced in 2008. Her children are a stepdaughter, Amanda Christine Miller, and a son, Lloyd Gregory Miller (deceased 2017). Gregory is the author of ''Ballet is the Best Exercise''.{{cite book |title=Ballet is the best exercise |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-54459-1}} Her children’s book, ''Cynthia Gregory Dances Swan Lake,'' was published in October 1990.{{cite book |title=Cynthia Gregory dances Swan Lake |publisher=London |isbn=978-0-671-68786-1}} Gregory devotes free time to interpreting her most memorable roles through pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings. Her work has been shown at the gallery at [Lincoln Center](/source/Lincoln_Center), the annual art shows of [Greenwich](/source/Greenwich%2C_Connecticut) and Rowayton, [Connecticut](/source/Connecticut), at private art galleries, and on dance posters and CD covers. ==Sources== * [http://www.filmreference.com/film/79/Cynthia-Gregory.html Film Reference.com] ==References== ==External links== *[http://www.ballerinagallery.com/gregory.htm The Ballerina Gallery - Cynthia Gregory] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20171104175652/http://www.careertransition.org/ Career Transition For Dancers] *[http://www.deadance.com Dance Educators of America] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110526201817/http://www.92y.org/shop/category.asp?category=92nd+Street+Y+Centers888School+of+the+Arts888School+of+the+Arts+-+Programs888Harkness+Dance+Center888 The 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20071113213945/http://www.greenwicharts.org/awards.asp Greenwich Arts interview] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120324054519/http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/cynthia-gregory?ref=artist&refcar=%2Fartist%2Fg-h Archival footage of Cynthia Gregory performing Brahms Waltz in 1982 at Jacob's Pillow] *[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339780/ Cynthia Gregory The Internet Movie Database] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Cynthia}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:American prima ballerinas Category:American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Category:Dancers from California Category:Entertainers from Los Angeles Category:20th-century American ballet dancers Category:San Francisco Ballet principal dancers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cynthia Gregory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Gregory) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Gregory?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.