The Ballet Conservatory at dance industry

Craig Hall was born in Maywood, Illinois. He began his dance training at Maywood Fine Arts with Lois Baumann. At 14, he studied with Anna Paskevska and Randy Duncan at The Chicago Academy of the Arts and Ruth Page Dance Foundation with Larry Long. He entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, full time in the fall of 1997.  In October 1999, he became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and a member of the corps de ballet in February 2000. In May 2007, Craig was promoted to soloist. While with NYCB, he has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, Episodes, The Four Temperaments, The Nutcracker (Tea, Candy Cane), Serenade, La Sonnambula, Western Symphony; Angelin Preljocaj’s La Stravaganza; Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, The Cage, Fanfare, Glass Pieces; and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain, DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse, Liturgy, Polyphonia, This Bitter Earth. 

After retiring from NYCB in 2016, Craig became a Repertory Director and Repetiteur to New York City Ballet Resident-Choreographer Justin Peck. He has staged works for the San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and more. He joined The School of American Ballet’s faculty in 2017. 

His film and television work includes Columbia Pictures’ feature film Center Stage and the film NY EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ, a scripted adaptation of the Jerome Robbins ballet of the same name, which aired on PBS. He was featured in the first season of the AOL web series city.ballet presented by Sarah Jessica Parker, and performed with Taylor Swift and Misty Copeland for the 2019 American 

Music Awards. 

Tempe trained on full scholarship at the School of American Ballet, where she developed the foundation for a distinguished 20-year career as a professional ballerina with three of the nation’s leading dance companies. 

She began her career with Pacific Northwest Ballet, where she spent 5 years performing a wide range of featured roles. During her time with the company, she danced works by renowned choreographers including George Balanchine, Jeremone Robbins, William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Kent Stowell, Peter Martins, Glen Tetley, and Eliot Feld. 

Tempe continued her career with Boston Ballet for 6 years, performing leading roles in both classical & contemporary works. Her repertoire included ballets by Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kylian, James Kudelka, Balanchine, Helen Pickett and Jorma Elo. She concluded her career as a principal dancer with Kansas City Ballet, where she performed 9 seasons in celebrated lead roles, including Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and more. Her contemporary repertoire included Balanchine’s Allergro Brillante, Theme and Variations, Sanguinicin the Four Temperaments, and the Waltz Girl in Serenade. Following her illustrious performing career, Tempe remains a prominent and respected figure in the Kansas City arts community. She now serves as an assistant professor of dance at the UMKC Conservatory, inspiring the next generation of artists through her extensive experience and passion for the art of ballet.

Matthew Dibble was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, U.K. At the age of 11, he entered the Royal Ballet School White Lodge where he trained for five years followed by two years in the Royal Ballet Upper School. Upon graduating, he became a member of the Royal Ballet under the directorship of Anthony Dowell. In his five years in the company, Matthew rose to First Artist, dancing many roles including those created for him by choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon, William Forsythe, Ashley Page, Twyla Tharp, William Tuckett, and Michael Clark. In 1999, Matthew decided to leave the Royal Ballet to become a founding member of K Ballet Company in Tokyo, Japan. He spent three years in Japan, working closely with director Tetsuya Kumakawa and choreographers such as Roland Petit. Matthew was then invited to the United States where he began a close collaboration with famed choreographer Twyla Tharp. He became a member of her company Twyla Tharp Dance, later joining the cast of her smash hit musical “Movin’ Out” to the music of Billy Joel. Matthew came back to Broadway in 2010 to create the principal role of Chanos in Tharp’s new musical “Come Fly Away” which he then danced on tour around the world as well as at the Tony Awards. Two decades after first inviting Matthew to join her company, Tharp continues to create many featured works for him, including Yowzie and Beethoven Opus 130 featured during Twyla Tharp Dance’s 50th Anniversary Tour. Along with dancing, Matthew now has the great honor of staging both Benjamin Millepied and Twyla Tharp’s works in the United States and abroad, along with leading master classes and workshops for students and professionals alike.

Jennifer Chambers Litaker grew up in a ballet studio with her mother and teacher, Helen Chambers. While training and

performing with the Tyler Civic Ballet, under the direction of Paula Sansom, Jennifer was privileged to work with artists such as Anne Burton Avery, David Howard, Patricia Thomlinson and Richard Hubsure. Jennifer found her love for ballet and passion for anatomy collide while earning her Fine Arts Degree at the University of North Texas under the guidance of Arleen Sugano. Working as a research assistant for Arleen, Jennifer was given the opportunity to delve deeper into the idea of a collaborative ballet technique using science to create a stronger and healthier approach to classical tradition. Accolades achieved include acting as 2 year president of Honor’s Society, Chi Tau Epsilon, Graduating Magna Cum Laude, choreographic acknowledgement to the College Dance Festival and receiving Student of the Year Honors for Fine Arts. After over a decade of teaching, Jennifer is honored to be a part of the DI Family and share her love for ballet with such motivated young artists. Jennifer is also blessed to have the endless support of her husband, Rob, and three children Zachary, Ava and Mabel.