We are so happy to have you join us for Nutcracker, an annual tradition here at San Francisco Ballet! Nutcracker has true staying power, and has remained compelling over the decades— since its premiere in Russia in 1892, or its American premiere right here in San Francisco in 1944. At its heart, it’s a story about the wonder of childhood and family—and we can’t wait to see the delight in your eyes as the curtain goes up.
After the snow has fallen and December melts into the new year, we celebrate an extraordinary milestone: the company’s 90th anniversary. What’s more, we are thrilled to be writing you as the new Artistic Director and Executive Director for the very first time! We are so excited for these performances of Nutcracker, and what the next 90 years of SF Ballet will bring to our stages, schools, and to you, our Bay Area Community.
We hope you will join us in January for next@90, a festival of nine new works by choreographers from around the world. For SF Ballet’s first festival since 2018’s spectacular Unbound, Helgi Tomasson, who curated the festival and the entire 2023 Season, asked Nicolas Blanc, Bridget Breiner, Val Caniparoli, Robert Garland, Yuka Oishi, Yuri Possokhov, Jamar Roberts, Danielle Rowe, and Claudia Schreier to share their distinct perspectives on what the future of ballet looks like—and they have created some truly amazing new works. Bringing different backgrounds and voices together, united by a shared love for dance, is at the core of our mission—and history—of supporting new works by both emerging and established artists, and next@90 embodies this spirit of innovation.
As our 2023 Repertory Season moves us forward, we will also honor the beloved story ballets that reaffirm our passion for and dedication to the classics time and time again. Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella©—created as an SF Ballet commission and in co-production with the Dutch National Ballet—will return to the War Memorial Opera House, as will Helgi Tomasson’s timely Giselle and passionate Romeo & Juliet.
These grand, sweeping stories will be complemented by a dynamic mixed repertory program, featuring Tomasson’s elegant 7 for Eight, William Forsythe’s Blake Works I set to James Blake’s album The Colour in Anything, and the stage debut of Myles Thatcher’s vibrant COLORFORMS, which he developed for the company in 2020 and premiered to acclaim as part of our 2021 Digital Season.
Throughout this celebratory anniversary season, we seek to reflect the innovative, progressive, and accepting spirit of SF Ballet’s hometown, San Francisco. A deeply international and multicultural city at its core, we are honored to contribute to San Francisco’s vibrant culture by uniting our community through dance. Ballet is a living and breathing art form, and we feel inspired by our community to strive towards what’s next.
We are delighted to have you here at the War Memorial Opera House for Nutcracker, called a “paean to positive thinking” by the New York Times at its premiere. We hope that you’ll return throughout the season to experience more voices, moving stories, and of course, the beauty of ballet.
Sincerely,
Tamra Rojo & Danielle St.Germain
This article was provided courtesy of San Francisco Ballet. This article is written by Tamara Rojo and Danielle St. Germain and was originally featured in the Nutcracker playbill. Read the full playbill here.
