Tara Keating began her training at the age of seven at the Pioneer Valley Ballet in Northampton, Massachusetts. She then attended The Juilliard School, under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, where she received a BFA in Dance. While there, she was awarded the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship and the Most Outstanding Dance Major award from the National Dance Association. She has danced professionally with the American Repertory Ballet, “Tharp!” and as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Throughout her career she has originated roles in world premieres by such renowned choreographers as Jorma Elo, Jodie Gates, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Trey McIntyre, Matthew Neenan, Helen Pickett, Septime Webre, and Christopher Wheeldon, among others. In 2005, she became a founding member of BalletX, and danced in nearly every performance until her retirement in 2012. She has staged numerous ballets on BalletX, and has set Neenan’s work on Pennsylvania Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Nevada Ballet Theatre, SUNY at Purchase College, and Bucknell University. Tara was the Producing Director in 2006 and 2007 for Shut Up & Dance, an annual benefit for MANNA, created by the dancers of Pennsylvania Ballet. She was also the recipient of a 2002 City Paper Choice Award. She was a Master Lecturer at the University of the Arts, and served as BalletX’s Artistic Coordinator and Ballet Mistress from 2011 to 2013. She was named Associate Artistic Director in February 2014.
