Nijinska chose Parkinson to dance the lead role of La Garconne,[4] and the two spent weeks working rehearsing.

[5]: 329–330  The next year, she originated a role in Ashton's Enigma Variations, as Edward Elgar's friend Winifred Norbury.

[4] After MacMillan's term in Berlin ended, he returned to London and created a few more dramatic roles on her, including the Tsarina in the three-act version of Anastasia (1971) and the gaoler's mistress in Manon (1974).

[6] Parkinson had also danced in the Royal Ballet premieres of Balanchine's Apollo,[4] and as the episode from the past in Tudor's Jardin aux lilas.

[3] Other ballets she had performed include MacMillan's Song of the Earth, as the wife in The Invitation, Ashton's Birthday Offering, Cinderella, as Lykanion in Daphnis and Chloé, as Friday entry in Jazz Calendar, Symphonic Variations, Scènes de Ballet, as the Gypsy Girl in The Two Pigeons, Howard's La Belle Dame sans Merci, as the Aristocrat in Massine's Mam'zelle Angot, Robbins' The Concert.

[3] Despite being known for performing 20th-century works, she had also danced classical ballets such as Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, the title role in Raymonda, solos in La Bayadère, Myrtha in Giselle and Les Sylphides.

[1][3] Parkinson was asked to teach MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet to Mikhail Baryshnikov and Leslie Browne, for Herbert Ross' 1977 film The Turning Point.

[1] At the American Ballet Theatre, she had also performed character roles, including the Queen in The Sleeping Beauty, Madam Larina in Cranko's Onegin, and the Stepmother de Mille's Fall River Legend.

[3] Prior to her death, she coached actresses Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis for the film Black Swan.