University of Missouri-Kansas city

About

Tempe trained at The School of American Ballet on full scholarship. Upon graduation she had a 20-year career as a professional ballerina with three of the nation’s major dance companies. She joined the Pacific Northwest Ballet and was featured in numerous roles over her five years with the company, dancing the work of choreographers including Balanchine, Robbins, Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Stowell, Peter Martins, Glen Tetley, and Eliot Feld.

She then went on to dance with the Boston Ballet for six years and continued to perform leading roles in a diverse repertoire.  She was featured in pieces by Wheeldon, Tharp, Kylián, Kudelka, Balanchine, Pickett, and Elo, as well as numerous classics including La Sylphide, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, La fille mal gardée, Swan Lake, and Giselle. She concluded her career at The Kansas City Ballet as a principal dancer for nine years, performing lead roles in Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Dracula, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Other ballets include the principal role in Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante, Theme and Variations, Sanguinic in The Four Temperaments, and Waltz Girl in Serenade.

Tempe enjoyed an illustrious career in the professional dance world, and she continues to be a prominent and respected figure in the Kansas City arts community.