San Francisco Ballet Announces 2019 Season Programs

World Premieres by Liam Scarlett and Yuri Possokhov, Company Premiere of Benjamin Millepied's Appassionata

SF Ballet will return to Festival Napa Valley for one performance only on Friday, July 27, 2018, accompanied by members of the SF Ballet Orchestra. In addition, the Company will also return to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., from October 23-28, 2018, where they will perform two mixed-bill programs of selected works from Unbound: A Festival of New Works.

The 2018-19 Season will continue with Nutcracker, which runs December 12-29, 2018 for a total of 31 performances. 

Following the Opening Night Gala on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, the Repertory Season will consist of eight programs, from January 25 to May 12, for a total of 58 performances. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8:00pm. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening performances are at 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2:00pm. The SF Ballet Orchestra will accompany all programs. 

Program 1

Last performed during the 2015 Repertory Season, this full-length production is set to music by Ludwig Minkus and features scenic and costume design by Martin Pakledinaz and lighting design by James F. Ingalls. It was first performed by SF Ballet during the 2003 Repertory Season with new production designs in 2012.

DON QUIXOTE

Minkus/Gorsky after Petipa/Tomasson,

Possokhov/Pakledinaz/Ingalls

Jan. 25 eve, 26 mat & eve, 27 mat, 29 eve, 30 eve, 31 eve, Feb. 1 eve, 2 mat

Program 2

DIVERTIMENTO NO. 15

Mozart/Balanchine/after Karinska/Stanley

APPASSIONATA+

Beethoven/Millepied/Dugas/Sartori/Hakimi. A ballet for six dancers, Appassionata originally premiered in 2016 by Paris Opera Ballet under the title La Nuit s'achève ("The Night Ends"). The updated title, Appassionata, means "passionate" in Italian. The work features scenic design by Camille Dugas, costume design by Alessandro Sartori, and lighting design by Madjid Hakimi.

ENCORE WORK TBA

Feb. 12 eve, 13 eve, 15 eve, 17 mat, 21 eve, 23 mat & eve

Program 3

THE FIFTH SEASON

Jenkins/Tomasson/Woodall/Mazzola

Tomasson's The Fifth Season, last performed by the Company in 2016, is an homage to dance and includes a series of short takes illustrating ballet technique. 

ENCORE WORK TBA

ETUDES

Czerny/Lander

Etudes was premiered by SF Ballet during the 2006 Repertory Season. Premiered by the Royal Danish Ballet in 1948, it is set to a piano series by Carl Czerny (arranged by Knudage Riisager). 

Feb. 14 eve, 16 mat & eve, 19 eve, 20 eve, 22 eve, 24 mat

Program 4

FULL-LENGTH PRODUCTION

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

Tchaikovsky/Tomasson after Petipa/ Worsaae/Miller

The Sleeping Beauty was most recently performed during the 2018 Repertory Season. It includes scenic and costume design by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, with lighting design by Craig Miller. First choreographed by Marius Petipa, the original production premiered in 1890, at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. Tomasson's production shows the evolution in style of the Russian court over 100 years, before and after the reign of Peter the Great, as Western culture grew increasingly influential. The dramatic shift in costume style is especially evident from the prologue and Act I, to Acts II and III.

March 9 eve, 10 mat, 12 eve, 13 eve, 14 eve, 15 eve, 16 matinee

2019 Repertory Season Calendar/Page 2

Program 5

ENCORE WORK TBA

ENCORE WORK TBA

YURI POSSOKHOV WORLD PREMIERE*

A former SF Ballet principal dancer and current choreographer in residence, Possokhov will create his seventeenth work for San Francisco Ballet. 

March 27 eve, 28 eve, 30 mat & eve, April 2 eve, 5 eve, 7 matinee

Program 6

ENCORE WORK TBA

LIAM SCARLETT WORLD PREMIERE*

Scarlett, the Royal Ballet's artist in residence, will create his third work for San Francisco Ballet. 

RODEO: FOUR DANCE EPISODES

Copland/Peck/Bartelme, Jung, Peck/Baker

This non-narrative work is a departure from the eponymous 1942 work choreographed by Agnes de Mille. It features costume design by Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung, and Justin Peck and lighting design by Brandon Stirling Baker.

March 29 eve, 31 mat, April 3 eve, 4 eve, 6 mat & eve, 9 eve

PROGRAM 7

FULL-LENGTH PRODUCTION

THE LITTLE MERMAID

Auerbach/Neumeier

This production is a modern and mature interpretation of the classic Christian Anderson fairy tale and SF Ballet presented the U.S. premiere during the 2010 Repertory Season. It features scenic, costume, and lighting design by Neumeier. 

April 19 eve, 20 mat & eve, 23 eve, 24 eve, 25 eve, 28 mat

PROGRAM 8

SHOSTAKOVICH TRILOGY

Shostakovich/Ratmansky//Tsypin/Dekker/Tipton

This plotless ballet in three acts is a tribute to Ratmansky's favorite composer and fellow Russian, Dmitri Shostakovich. Each act is named after a piece of Shostakovich's music (Symphony #9,Chamber Symphony, and Piano Concerto No. 1) and provides a sketch of Shostakovich's life under the oppressive Soviet regime.

May 7 eve, 8 eve, 9 eve, 10 eve, 11 mat & eve, 12 mat

* World Premiere

+ SF Ballet Premiere