Marisa DeEtte Whiteman

Joined KCB in 2018, +4 Years – Second Company

Originally from St. James, NY, Marisa DeEtte Whiteman began classical training at Seiskaya Ballet. At age 14, she was invited by Peter Stark to join the pre-professional program at Next Generation Ballet, during which she danced in La Traviata with Opera Tampa, and in the Youth America Grand Prix Gala at Lincoln Center. She later continued as a pre-professional student at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, where she performed in Snow and Flowers in The Nutcracker, and the Putti Couple in Cinderella. Subsequently, she trained for a year privately and was awarded Top 12 in the Senior Classical Division at YAGP. Since 2014, Ms. Whiteman has moved through the ranks at Kansas City Ballet as Trainee, KCB II, Apprentice, and into the Main Company.

Ms. Whiteman has spent summers performing at the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, Jacob’s Pillow where she was featured in a work by Yury Yanowsky at the Gala Performance, as a Stepsister in a benefit performance of Cinderella with Misty Copeland, and featured as Zelda Fitzgerald with Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance. Since joining Kansas City Ballet, some of her featured roles have included Bomb Squad in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Lead duet in Alexander Ekman’s Cacti, and Pas de Trois in Devon Carney’s Swan Lake. She has also enjoyed performing Kick Girl in William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Petite Mort by Jiří Kylián, Umbra by Myles Thatcher, George Balanchine’s Diamonds, The Four Temperaments and Theme and Variations, as well as many others.

She is currently pursuing a B.S. in Business at Pennsylvania State University, and also teaches ballet classes, Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), and coaches students for YAGP at the Kansas City Ballet School. She is thrilled to begin her tenth season with Kansas City Ballet.