San Francisco Ballet
Encyclopedia
Ballet company
A ballet company is a group of dancers who perform ballet, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round basis, except in the United States, where contracts for part of the year are the norm...
, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House
War Memorial Opera House (San Francisco)
The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California is located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the rear facade of City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center...
, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States. It is among the world's leading dance companies, and along with American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
, and the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
has been described as part of the "triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today."
1938–1950
The company's first major production was CoppéliaCoppélia
Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
in 1938, choreographed by Willam Christensen
Willam Christensen
Willam Farr Christensen was an American ballet dancer, choreographer and founder of the San Francisco Ballet and Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is known for bringing the complete version of the Russian ballet The Nutcracker to the United States, as well as staging the first American...
. In 1940 Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
was produced in its entirety for the first time by Americans with principal ballerina Celina Cummings. The company also began showing The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
during the holiday season, beginning Christmas Eve, 1944. This too was choreographed by Willam Christensen and was the first complete production of Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's most popular piece in the United States.
In 1942 San Francisco Opera Ballet split in two, forming independent ballet and opera companies. The ballet half was sold to Willam and Harold Christensen, who became artistic director and appointed director of the San Francisco Ballet School, respectively. The San Francisco Ballet Guild was also formed during this time as a support organization for San Francisco Ballet.
1951–1985
1951 saw the next significant shift in administration of San Francisco Ballet. In this year, Lew ChristensenLew Christensen
Lewellyn Farr "Lew" Christensen was a ballet dancer, choreographer and director for many companies. He was largely associated with George Balanchine and the San Francisco Ballet, which he directed from 1952–1984...
—the premier danseur at the time—partnered with Willam Christensen as co-directors. One year later, Lew took over entirely. With this new administration SFB began to broaden its horizons, travel, and establish itself as a significant American ballet company. Until 1956, San Francisco Ballet had remained on the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, but Lew pushed the company into the Jacob's Pillow
Jacob's Pillow
Jacob’s Pillow Dance is a dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The organization is known for the oldest internationally acclaimed summer dance festival in the United States. The facility also includes a professional school and extensive...
Dance Festival in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. In 1957 SFB was the first American ballet company to tour the Far East, performing in eleven Asian nations. On New Year's Day in 1965, ABC-TV televised a one-hour abridgement of the Lew Christensen-choreographed production of "The Nutcracker", featuring San Francisco Ballet.
In 1972 Lew brought the company closer to its original home, the War Memorial Opera House, by officially naming the theatre as its official residence.
Timeline of productions
| Ballet | Choreographer | Original Leads | Notes | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Coppélia Coppélia Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe... |
Christensen Willam Christensen Willam Farr Christensen was an American ballet dancer, choreographer and founder of the San Francisco Ballet and Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is known for bringing the complete version of the Russian ballet The Nutcracker to the United States, as well as staging the first American... |
Unknown | First complete production ever in the U.S. | |
| 1940 | Swan Lake Swan Lake Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger... |
First complete production ever in the U.S. | |||
| The Nutcracker The Nutcracker The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St... |
First complete U.S. production. Started tradition of Christmas Eve showing; for ten years this was the only complete Nutcracker performed in the U.S. | ||||
| 1947 | Giselle Giselle Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine... |
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| 1976 | Romeo and Juliet | Smuin Michael Smuin Michael Smuin was a ballet dancer, choreographer and theatre director. He was co-founder and director of his own dance company, the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco.-Biography:... |
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| 1978 | La Fille Mal Gardée La Fille Mal Gardée La Fille mal gardée is a comic ballet presented in two acts, inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1789 painting, La réprimande/Une jeune fille querellée par sa mère... |
Ashton Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at... |
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| 1981 | The Tempest The Tempest The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,... |
Smuin Michael Smuin Michael Smuin was a ballet dancer, choreographer and theatre director. He was co-founder and director of his own dance company, the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco.-Biography:... |
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| April 30, 2004 | Sylvia Sylvia (ballet) Sylvia, originally Sylvia, ou La nymphe de Diane, is a full-length ballet in two or three acts, first choreographed by Louis Mérante to music by Léo Delibes in 1876. Sylvia is a typical classical ballet in many respects, yet it has many interesting features which make it unique... |
Morris Mark Morris Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments... |
Yuan Yuan Tan Yuan Yuan Tan Yuanyuan Tan She won multiple international awards at an early age; including a gold medal and the Nijinsky Award at the 1st Japan International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition and a gold medal in the 5th International Ballet Competition in Paris . At age 18, she became a soloist dancer with... , Yuri Possokhov |
First complete U.S. production |
Artistic Director
- Helgi Tomasson
Ballet Master / Assistant to the Artistic Director
- Ricardo Bustamante
- Bruce Sansom
Ballet Masters
- Betsy Erickson
- Anita Paciotti
- Katita Waldo
Choreographer in Residence
- Yuri Possokhov
Principal Dancers
- Joan Boada
- Frances Chung
- Taras Domitro
- Lorena Feijóo
- Jaime Garcia Castilla
- Tiit Helimets
- Davit Karapetyan
- Maria KochetkovaMaria KochetkovaMaria Kochetkova , is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. She is a bronze medal Laureate of the 9th International Competition of ballet artists and choreographers in Moscow , Winner of the Young Artists Competition "Prix de Lausanne" , silver medal in Varna, golden medals holder for...
- Kristin Long
- Vitor Luiz
- Rubén Martín Cintas
- Vito Mazzeo
- Pascal Molat
- Vito Mazzeo
- Gennadi Nedvigin
- Damian Smith
- Sofiane Sylve
- Yuan Yuan TanYuan Yuan TanYuanyuan Tan She won multiple international awards at an early age; including a gold medal and the Nijinsky Award at the 1st Japan International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition and a gold medal in the 5th International Ballet Competition in Paris . At age 18, she became a soloist dancer with...
- Sarah Van PattenSarah Van PattenSarah Van Patten is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. She trained at Boston Ballet and began performing at age 8 in their annual performance of The Nutcracker. By age 10, Sarah was studying with Jacqueline Cronsberg and performing classical ballet repertoire with the Massachusetts...
- Pierre-François Vilanoba
- Vanessa Zahorian
Principal Character Dancers
- Ricardo Bustamante
- Val Caniparoli
- Jorge Esquivel
- Anita Paciotti
Soloists
- Elana Altman
- Victoria Ananyan
- Daniel Deivison Oliviera
- Courtney Elizabeth
- Dana Genshaft
- Isaac Hernandez
- Pauli Magierek
- Vito Mazzeo
- Elizabeth Miner
- Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun
- Garen Scribner
- James Sofranko
- Anthony Spaulding
- Hansuke Yamamoto
Corps de Ballet
- Gaetano Amico III
- Dores Andre
- Daniel Baker
- Clara Blanco
- Kimberly Braylock
- Nicole Ciapponi
- Charlene Cohen
- Diego Cruz
- Sasha DeSola
- Jordan Hammond
- Koto Ishihara
- Madison Keesler
- Kristina Lind
- Alexandra McCullagh
- Alexandra Meyer-Lorey
- Steven Morse
- Francisco Mungamba
- Mariellen Olson
- Sean Orza
- Rebecca Rhodes
- Shannon Marie Roberts
- Lilly Rogers
- Jeremy Rucker
- Danielle Santos
- Dustin Shane
- Jennifer Stahl
- Benjamin Stewart
- Matthew Stewart
- Myles Thatcher
- Raymond Tilton
- Sebastian Vinet
- Lonnie Weeks
- Quinn Wharton
- Luke Willis
- Caroline Wilson
- WanTing Zhao
Apprentices
- Sean Bennett
- Megan Amanda Ehrlich
- Ellen Rose Hummel
- Elizabeth Powell
- Henry Sidford
- Shion Yuasa
San Francisco Ballet at 75: The American Tour, 2008
The San Francisco Ballet, as part of its 75th anniversary season in 2008, made a national tour through four major cities: Chicago, the Harris Theater for Music and DanceHarris Theater (Chicago)
The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance is a 1,525-seat theater for the performing arts located along the northern edge of Millennium Park on Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, US...
, Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
, September 16–21; New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
, October 10–18; Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...
, the Orange County Performing Arts Center
Orange County Performing Arts Center
The Orange County Performing Arts Center is a performing arts complex located in Costa Mesa, California, United States.The Center offers the world’s leading dance companies, Broadway shows, award-winning classical, jazz and cabaret artists, family entertainment, special events and year-round...
, November 11–16; and Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
, November 25–30. The tour featured ballets from SFB's New Works Festival, the finalé of their Spring 2008 season, which featured over the course of three consecutive nights premières of ten new ballets by ten major choreographers.
Divertimento No. 15
- George BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
's choreography to WA MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's music, staged by Elyse Borne with costumes after KarinskaBarbara KarinskaVarvara Jmoudsky, better known as Barbara Karinska or simply Karinska , was costumer of the New York City Ballet, and the first costume designer ever to win the Capezio Dance Award, for costumes "of visual beauty for the spectator and complete delight for the dancer".However, she designed the...
and Mark Stanley's lighting.
Friday, October 10
- dancers
- Tina LeBlanc
- Elizabeth Miner
- Rachel Viselli
- Vanessa Zahorian
- Taras Domitro
- Ruben Martin
- Gennadi Nedvigin
Wednesday, October 15
- dancers
- Elana Altman
- Kristin Long
- Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun
- Sarah Van PattenSarah Van PattenSarah Van Patten is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. She trained at Boston Ballet and began performing at age 8 in their annual performance of The Nutcracker. By age 10, Sarah was studying with Jacqueline Cronsberg and performing classical ballet repertoire with the Massachusetts...
- Katita Waldo
- Davit Karapetyan
- Mateo Klemmayer
- Hansuke Yamamoto
Saturday, October 18, evening
- dancers
- Frances Chung
- Dana Genshaft
- Maria KochetkovaMaria KochetkovaMaria Kochetkova , is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. She is a bronze medal Laureate of the 9th International Competition of ballet artists and choreographers in Moscow , Winner of the Young Artists Competition "Prix de Lausanne" , silver medal in Varna, golden medals holder for...
- Rachel Viselli
- Vanessa Zahorian
- Taras Domitro
- Ruben Martin
- Gennadi Nedvigin
Program B
- New York City CenterNew York City CenterNew York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
, October 2008
- Thursday, October 16
- Sunday, October 12>
- Saturday, October 11, evening
The Fifth Season
- Helgi Tomasson's choreography to Karl JenkinsKarl Jenkins-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...
' music with Sandra Woodall's scenery and costumes and Michael Mazzola's lighting
Concerto Grosso
- Helgi Tomasson's choreography to Francesco GeminianiFrancesco Geminianithumb|230px|Francesco Geminiani.Francesco Saverio Geminiani was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist.-Biography:...
's music with Sandra Woodall's costumes and David Finn's lighting
Joyride
- Mark Morris'Mark MorrisMark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
choreography to John Adams' music with Isaac MizrahiIsaac MizrahiIsaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...
's costumes and James F. Ingalls' lighting
The Four Temperaments
- George BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
's choreography to Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's music, staged by Elyse Borne
Program C
- New York City CenterNew York City CenterNew York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
, October 2008
- Friday, October 17
See also
Articles
- Sunday NY Times, John MartinJohn Martin (dance critic)John Martin became America’s first major dance critic in 1927. Focusing his efforts on propelling the modern dance movement, he greatly influenced the careers of dancers such as Martha Graham...
, July 6, 1947
- Sunday NY Times, Allen Hughes, May 5, 1963