February 28, 2022—Emerging from the seemingly endless pandemic lockdown, choreographer Dexandro Montalvo is excited to get back on the floor with dancers and create his art. To express his relief and pent-up creativity, Montalvo is choreographing his new world premiere Vamonos, Spanish for "we're leaving," that is, leaving the isolation of the...
February 27, 2022—San Francisco Ballet's spectacular full-length Don Quixote opened last evening to an explosively enthusiastic audience. SFB's first full-length production of the season, the sumptuous staging and dynamic dancing filled the longstanding need of an audience craving quality performance while still emerging from pandemic deprivation....
February 25, 2002—While most dance companies keep to a home venue, Smuin Contemporary Ballet brings their performances to different cities and venues around the Bay Area. Opening Dance Series 1 on February 4th at Cowell Theater in San Francisco, the Company went on to perform it at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, and then again, opening it last...
February 7, 2022—When Lauren Jonas, Artistic Director of Diablo Ballet, commissioned choreographer Julia Adam with setting a ballet on Cinderella's Wedding, Adam was confronted with a particular challenge. Known for creating works with an edge, she was faced with creating a family-friendly work set on a classic fairy tale. Adam's earlier piece, The...
January 11, 2022—Concluding a ten-month search, San Francisco Ballet today announced the appointment of Tamara Rojo to succeed Helgi Tomasson as Artistic Director. A former Artistic Director of the English National Ballet, Rojo is an award-winning principal dancer with thirty years as a professional ballerina, including over ten years as a...
Among the many Nutcrackers performed every year, some have been tweaked to be locally relevant. San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker, for example, is set in 1915 San Francisco. The New Ballet of San Jose has taken the local idea a step further and replaced some of the iconic Nutcracker characters with figures that have a local connection. The lavish,...
December 17, 2021—One of the most popular and engaging of the Christmas ballets in the Bay Area, Smuin's The Christmas Ballet would have celebrated its 25th-anniversary last year except for the pandemic shutdown. Given the energy and enthusiasm on Thursday night, both the cast and audience were delighted to see The Christmas Ballet return to San...
December 11, 2021—If absence makes the heart grow fonder, San Francisco Ballet's fans enthusiastically expressed their growing affection on the December 10 opening night of Nutcracker. Marking the Company's return to live performances at the War Memorial Opera House after a 21-month pandemic hiatus, from Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson's on-stage...
November 14, 2021—Among the holiday season Nutcracker performances shortened for the attention spans of younger audiences, serious dance fans might fear they'd find dumbed-down ballet. Not so with Diablo Ballet's The Nutcracker Suite. The challenging choreography, by Julia Adam, and Diablo's able dancers led by veteran Artistic Director Lauren...
October 27, 2021—San Francisco choreographer Alyssa Mitchel's previous work The Classroom celebrated her ties to education. As a math tutor, she has an avid interest in knowledge. Her newest work Here. Now. explores the knowing that comes from meditation. Comprised of six sections, each expressing an aspect of meditation, her newest piece will be...