Carrie Gaiser Casey, PhD playfully examines the history, choreography, and comedy that make this ballet so compelling for audiences past and present.

Celebrating his 30th season as Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer of SFB, Helgi Tomasson reflects with warmth and humor on his “discovery” by Jerome Robbins, and subsequent mentorship by the great 20th century choreographer. He includes delightful anecdotes from his experience competing in the First International Ballet Competition in Moscow in 1969, from which he took home the Silver Medal. He outlines some of his hopes and ambitions for the Company as its new Director, and...

Performance scholar Rebecca Groves, formerly Dramaturg of the Ballett Frankfurt and Executive Director of the Forsythe Foundation, discusses The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and how it takes up ballet as its subject matter — empowering dancers, developing the tradition in unexpected directions, and engaging audiences in new ways.

Former SFB principal dancer Joanna Berman reminisces about interpreting the role of Giselle, including her feelings about the challenges to be found in the 2 contrasting acts. She reveals how poignant she found the experience of performing this role for her farewell performance. Principal dancer Frances Chung discusses performing the role for the first time this season, and how she drew on her previous experience of dancing other roles in the ballet as well as observing the interpretations of...

This season we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Val Caniparoli’s joyous audience favorite, Lambarena. Dance educator Mary Wood discusses the making of Lambarena with Caniparoli, Ballet Master Betsy Erickson, and African dance master Naomi Diouf.

Principal Dancer, Damian Smith, reminisces about his 18-year career with San Francisco Ballet. He speaks eloquently about his partnership with Yuan Yuan Tan; about preparing the wide variety of character roles he performed—elaborating about how he found the way to portray the villain Iago in Othello. He offers insights into the work of many of the renowned choreographers who have set works on him. He describes the future projects, many in the world of visual arts, in which he will be involved...

Choreographers Val Caniparoli, Liam Scarlett, and Myles Thatcher discuss their craft with dance scholar Carrie Gaiser Casey. Topics include their influences, challenges, and inspirations, and discussions of works such as Lambarena (Caniparoli), Hummingbird (Scarlett).

SF Ballet Visiting Scholar Dr. Stephanie Jordan presents “Meeting Beethoven: Mark Morris and Maelstrom.” What happens when you make a ballet out of Beethoven’s so-called “Ghost” Trio? In Maelstrom, Morris responds to a model of large musical form while adding his own suggestions of an unearthly narrative.

ABT Ballet Mistress and Répétiteur Nancy Raffa traces the process of creating Alexei Ratmansky's "Shostakovich Trilogy," citing her long association with choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. She describes how the life of composer Dmitri Shostakovich is portrayed in his music, and how Ratmansky has used these biographical themes as motivation for choreography that is abstract. She references each of the three pieces that comprise the Trilogy, highlighting their contrasting characteristics.

The melodic, atmospheric Prokofiev score that drives Cinderella is the subject of this discussion, led by SF Ballet Music Director and Principal Conductor Martin West, accompanied by Company Pianist Michael McGraw and hosted by dance educator Mary Wood.

Choreographer Val Caniparoli spoke eloquently about his development as a choreographer, from his early years as a student and young dancer to his work in myriad companies around the world. He offered heartfelt advice to emerging choreographers, urging them to fill their time with learning experiences. Assembling his team for the production of the world premiere of Tears provided an opportunity for him to elaborate on his collaborative style with both his dancers and his designers.

In her role as Ballet Master, Anita Paciotti spoke about Alexei Ratmansky's Shostakovich Trilogy to receive its west-coast premiere on Program 5, emphasizing the wide variety to be found in the music. In the discussion about the ballet Giselle, Anita drew on her experience in interpreting character roles to describe “Berthe”, mother of Giselle, a role which she created in Helgi Tomasson’s 1999 production. She emphasized the challenge to the contemporary dancer of embodying the Romantic style.

The SF Ballet premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s full-length Cinderella provides us with the opportunity to enjoy a fresh interpretation of the iconic story, set to the familiar Prokofiev score. Ballet Masters Anita Paciotti and Felipe Diaz will discuss the process of bringing this production to the Opera House stage.

The repertoire for this program—George Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements, Helgi Tomasson’s Criss-Cross, and Yuri Possokov’s Francesca da Rimini, represents three generations of choreographers. Ballet Master Katita Waldo, who has performed in both Criss Cross and Symphony in Three Movements, will be joined by Soloist Garen Price Scribner and Corps de Ballet Dancer Charlene Cohen to discuss the contrasting experience of creating a new work and interpreting a classic.

Val Caniparoli discusses his fascination with the development of complex characters, as portrayed in Ibsen’s House, his most recent work created for SF Ballet. He will provide insight into the challenges of being a prolific freelance choreographer, whose works are in the repertoires of over 40 companies worldwide. Symphonic Dances, choreographed by Edwaard Liang and Rudolph Nureyev’s Raymonda Act III contribute to this diverse program.

John Cranko’s Onegin, based on Russia’s beloved novel, returns by popular demand! SF Ballet’s 2013 Visiting Scholar Tim Scholl, Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature at Oberlin College and an author and scholar in the history of dance in Russia and North America, will explore the way the three authors (Pushkin, Tchaikovsky, and Cranko) have re-imagined characters who are not only beloved in Russia, but resonate universally for all who have experienced true love, and occasionally,...

this program of contrasting works. Soloist Sasha De Sola joins Ballet Master Betsy Erickson who offers her perspective of this ballet, and brings her long experience with the Company to the discussion of Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour and Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony.

The centerpiece of the program is the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s The Rite of Spring, set to Igor Stravinsky’s revolutionary 1913 score—music that has inspired and challenged a wealth of prominent choreographers and dancers. Musicologist Susan Key, San Francisco Ballet School Administrative Manager and music educator, Andrea Yannone, and Dance Educator Mary Wood will be joined by SF Ballet Music Director Martin West to explore Stravinsky’s complex musical tour de force, the challenges...

SF Ballet is proud to present Hamburg Ballet in Nijinsky, created by Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer of The Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier. Mr. Neumeier will join us for a discussion of this provocative retrospective of the great dancer's life and career. Following the discussion with Mr. Neumeier, Company Manager Lauren Chadwick will share the duties and responsibilities of the Company Manager while on tour and at home.

The 80th Season’s opening program includes the San Francisco Ballet premiere of Serge Lifar’s groundbreaking Suite en Blanc. English dancer and former director of the Australian Ballet, Maina Gielgud has staged the work for SF Ballet. Gielgud brings her extensive experience to the discussion of this work which has been described as “clever, intriguing and intricately patterned.” A world premiere by innovative choreographer Wayne McGregor and Jerome Robbins’ lovely In the Night round out the...

Don Quixote is well-known as a rollicking comedy packed with virtuoso dance. We will hear from Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson and Technical Director Christopher Dennis about the process of bringing San Francisco Ballet new scenery

In this program, San Francisco Ballet performs three works by 20th century choreographic giant George Balanchine and focuses on the variety of his output, from the classic and traditional Divertimento #15, through a revival of the romantic Scotch Symphony. Ballet Scholar Carrie Gaiser Casey, Ph.D. with San Francisco Ballet’s Visiting Scholar Dr. Beth Genné, a historian of dance and of art at the University of Michigan and Dr. Stephen Hinton, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities and...

This program features Symphonic Dances a world premier by emerging choreographer Edwaard Liang. Ballet Master Katita Waldo shares how a choreographer takes a work from conception to production. Also on the program is Helgi Tomasson’s The Fifth Season and Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces.

The company shows off its versatility performing the lush classicism of Rudolph Nureyev’s Raymonda Act III, the wrenching drama of Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU, and the contemporary creation of Ashley Page’s world premiere Guide to Strange Places. Assistant to the Artistic Director and Ballet Master Ricardo Bustamante and Soloist Elana Altman expand on the training and the discipline that allow San Francisco Ballet dancers to master this span of styles.

The wealth of varied music in our repertoire contributes significantly to its impact. We will explore this through the eyes of Music Director and Principal Conductor Martin West as we discuss Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov’s newest ballet Francesca da Rimini and the return of Alexei Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux, along with an encore of Helgi Tomasson’s Trio.