was the principal artist at the Staatsoper Ballet Berlin. She then joined the London Festival Ballet until 1976. She became a principal artist with the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet until 1978. In the years 1975-1981 she was the guest artist with the following companies: Ballet de l'Opéra de Marseille Grand Ballet Théâtre de Nancy Ballet du XXème Siècle Maurice Béjart The Australian Ballet Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet Scottish Ballet CAPAB (since renamed the Cape Town City Ballet Company) PACT Ballet, Johannesburg Hungarian National Ballet Bucarest Opera Ballet Nacional de Cuba Gielgud joined London Festival Ballet as a Principal Artist in 1972. During her four years there her repertoire included Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker and Le Baiser de la Fée, which was created for her. In 1976 she joined The Royal Ballet's touring company, now Birmingham Royal Ballet, as a guest artist before joining as a Principal Artist in 1977. With this Company her roles included the Black Queen in Checkmate, the Siren in The Prodigal Son, Swanilda in Coppélia and the Gypsy Girl in The Two Pigeons. From 1977 Gielgud's career as a freelance dancer took her to Hungary, France, Germany, America, Belgium and Australia. She continued to dance until 1981 when she retired from dancing and became Rehearsal Director of London City Ballet. In 1983, she was appointed Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet. During her 14 years there she introduced over 40 classical and modern works to the company's repertoire. Her very first ballet that was staged with The Australian Ballet was Spartacus in which Martyn Fleming played the lead role. On 8 February 1991 she was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her contribution to the performing arts, and particularly ballet. She has also been the recipient of an Advance Australia award. From 1997 to 1999 Gielgud was Artistic Director of The Royal Danish Ballet, where she brought many new works to the company. Since 1999, Gielgud has been freelance and has taught, coached and staged works for several different companies including English National Ballet, Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Tokyo Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Ballet du Rhin. In 2002, despite a hip surgery, she managed to stage a play Happy Days by Samuel Beckett in which she and Martyn Fleming played husband and wife. The same year, she also worked on a new production of Giselle