“Don Quixote” sizzles on the San Francisco Ballet stage

Sizzles isn’t the right word. Or maybe it’s the perfect word. Don Quixote opened at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House on March 19th on the waning end of a massive California heat wave — meaning, still too hot. But there was a silver lining. San Francisco, normally cool-to-chilly most months of the year, had … Read more

Nutcracker magic returns to San Francisco

In 2004, San Francisco Ballet’s then-Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson took a creative leap with a new production of the perennially popular Nutcracker. Stakes were high; the San Francisco Ballet was, after all, the first U.S. company to stage and produce a full-length version (based on the Ivanov/Petipa 1892 original), which premiered on Christmas Eve, 1944, there … Read more

San Francisco Ballet bursts into 2020

At last the San Francisco Ballet has returned to the stage at the War Memorial Opera House, commencing with their 75th anniversary performance of Nutcracker, North America’s first full-length production, a fact we SFB patrons are mighty proud of. The Nutcracker run has finished, alas, and as we burst into the New Year, my eye is now … Read more

SFB’s Unbound: a Festival of New Works

Looking for The Classical Girl’s review of Program B? Here you go! www.bachtrack.com Prepare yourself, dance world. San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound, a festival featuring twelve new works, is about to land in San Francisco. And it’s going to be big. An unprecedented, mind-expanding, creatively explosive extravaganza that includes the following: Twelve internationally acclaimed choreographers Four programs running … Read more

SFB from Nuts to 2017

Okay, so I’ve reviewed San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker before. Like, well, five times. It’s a little humbling when you pen a shiny new review, only to discover that you’ve unwittingly used much of the exact same wording in past reviews. Actually, it’s embarrassing, or would have been, if I hadn’t caught myself before submitting THIS … Read more