San Francisco Ballet
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San Francisco Ballet, or SFB, is a San Francisco, USA based ballet company, founded in 1933 as part of San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, where it is directed by Helgi Tomasson. SFB is notable for being the first professional American ballet company and likewise for having performed many ballets for their first time in the USA.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1938-1950
The first major production which the company engineered was Coppélia in 1938, choreographed by Willam Christensen[1]. In 1940, Swan Lake was produced in its entirety for the first time by Americans. The company also started the tradition of showing The Nutcracker during the holiday season, the first of which premiered Christmas Eve, 1944. This too was choreographed by Willam Christensen and was touted as the first complete production of Tchaikovsky'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[1], the San Francisco Ballet Guild was also formed during this time as a sort of supporting organization for San Francisco Ballet[2].
[edit] 1951-1985
1951 was the next significant shift in administration of San Francisco Ballet. In this year, Lew Christensen the premier danseur at the time partnered with William Christensen as co-directors. One year later, Lew took over entirely. With this new adminitstration, 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, but Lew pushed the company into the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts. In '57, an American ballet company toured the Far East for the first time ever, this was SFB and they went to 11 different nations in Asia to perform[1]. On New Year's Eve in 1964, ABC-TV televised the Lew Christenen-choreographed production of "The Nutcracker", with the San Francisco Ballet.
Eventually (1972), Lew brought the company closer to its original home, the War Memorial Opera House, by officially naming the theatre its official residence.
[edit] Timeline of productions
| Premiere | Ballet | Choreographer | Original Leads | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Coppélia | Christensen | Unknown | First production ever | [1] |
| 1940 | Swan Lake | [1][2] | |||
| December 24, 1944 | Nutcracker | Started tradition of Christmas Eve showing; for ten years this was the only complete Nutcracker performed in the U.S. | [1][2] | ||
| 1947 | Giselle | [2] | |||
| 1976 | Romeo and Juliet | [2] | |||
| 1978 | La Fille Mal Gardée | Ashton | [2] | ||
| 1981 | The Tempest | Smuin | [2] | ||
| April 30, 2004 | Sylvia | Morris | Yuan Yuan Tan, Yuri Possokhov | Recently shown | [1][3] |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g McCarthy, Terrence (2004 Repertory Season). "History of San Francisco Ballet". San Francisco Ballet Magazine 71 (6): 8.
- ^ a b c d e f g Renouf, Renee (2001). San Francisco Ballet history. Accessed September 19, 2005.
- ^ Simpson, Michael Wade (2004). Morris' 'Sylvia' forgoes showy dancing for an old-fashioned, irony-free romance Accessed September 19, 2005.
Richard E. Leblond, Jr., Meg Madden, (1988). From Chaos to Fragility: My Years at the San Francisco Ballet Association. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8403-5013-9.
