Kirkland, Johnna (1950–)
Kirkland, Johnna (1950–)
American ballet dancer. Born Feb 14, 1950, in Bethlehem, PA; dau. of Jack Kirkland (playwright) and Nancy (Hoadley) Kirkland (actress); sister of Gelsey Kirkland, dancer.
Trained at School of American Ballet; performed child roles for New York City Ballet in The Nutcracker and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1962); joined its professional company (1965) and was featured in Balanchine's Raymonda Variations, Four Temperaments, and Tchaikovsky Suite #3, and Robbins' Goldberg Variations; created roles in Clifford's ballets, Fantasies (1969) and Sarabande and Danse I (1970), Tanner's Octandre (1971), and Massine's Four Last Songs (1971); founded Los Angeles Ballet with John Clifford (1974); created roles in over 15 further ballets by Clifford including his The Red Back Book (1974), Serenade in A (Stravinsky), Sitar Concerto, Das Hammlische Leben (1977) and Transcended Etudes (1978).