kathleen moore

After graduating at age 16 as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts from The Alabama School of Fine Arts, and attending summer programs at American Ballet Theatre School and School of American Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov hired Kathleen Moore to join American Ballet Theatre (ABT), where she was a dancer for almost two decades, rising through the ranks from 2nd company to Principal Dancer.

During the course of her tenure at ABT, she worked across the broad spectrum of its vast repertory. She was closely associated with works by contemporary choreographers like Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Jiri Kylian and Lar Lubovitch. Twyla Tharp created several roles on Ms. Moore and cast her as a Stomper for the ABT premiere of In the Upper Room. She also had the privilege to work in depth with dramatic dance legends Antony Tudor and Agnes de Mille, appearing in ballets such as Tudor’s Pillar of Fire, Leaves are Fading, Dark Elegies, and as The Cowgirl in de Mille’s Rodeo and Lizzie Borden in Fall River Legend. As well, the female lead in one of de Mille’s final works, The Informer, was created for Ms. Moore. In the classics she danced the roles such as the Mistress in Manon, the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, and Myrta in Giselle. Her acting abilities gave her roles such as The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Berthe, the mother in Giselle, Madge in La Sylphide, and Leto, the mother in Balanchine’s Apollo.  

After Baryshnikov left his position as Artistic Director of ABT and co-founded The White Oak Dance Project with Mark Morris, they invited Kathleen to be a part of its premiere tour in 1990. 

Subsequent to her retirement she has taken and passed with high honors all levels of the ABT Teacher Training Curriculum, has taught audition classes in New York for various professional companies, and guest taught at universities. Ms. Moore has also appeared on several dance panels, The Charlie Rose Show, and currently teaches classes weekly at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. She has been on faculty at the Princeton Ballet School (PBS) in central New Jersey for many years teaching most levels, including their Professional Trainee program, and worked with its affiliated company, American Repertory Ballet (ARB), as a ballet mistress and teacher.