San Francisco Ballet School

San Francisco Ballet School
General information
Name San Francisco Ballet School
Previous names San Francisco Operatic and Ballet School
Year founded 1933 (1933)
Founders Gaetano Merola
Principal venue San Francisco Ballet Building
455 Franklin Street
San Francisco, California 94102
Website school.sfballet.org
Senior staff
Director Helgi Tomasson
Artistic staff
Deputy Director Patrick Armand

The San Francisco Ballet School was founded in 1933 as part of the San Francisco Operatic and Ballet School when Gaetano Merola, the founder of the San Francisco Opera, perceived a need for an institution where dancers could be trained to perform in opera productions.[1]

History

Under the direction of founding ballet director, Adolph Bolm, the San Francisco Operatic and Ballet School opened in 1933 and offered classes in ballet, tap, modern, and interpretive dance. The school was located in the William Taylor Hotel, with affiliate branch schools in nearby Bay Area locations Berkeley, Burlingame, Marin County, San Mateo, and Oakland. After Bolm left in 1937, new Opera ballet mistress Mildred Hirch added a fencing master during her year-long direction; Willam Christensen, previously director of the Oakland Branch School, became SF Opera ballet master and full school director in 1938.

As San Francisco Opera Ballet expanded its touring schedule, it became increasingly difficult for Christensen to serve in both of his professional capacities. In 1940, his brother Harold Christensen took over the position of school director. In 1942, the two Christensen brothers purchased both the ballet company and the school from the Opera Association, renaming the company San Francisco Ballet. Harold Christensen continued as director of the newly named San Francisco Ballet School until his retirement in 1975.

Under Harold Christensen, a nonprofessional curriculum flourished alongside its professional training, with programs targeted at students from very young children to working adults. However, the School became and remained a strictly classical academy for the 33 years that Christensen served as its head. This was particularly advantageous in light of the many directorial changes at SF Ballet, as school students who became company members were able to provide valuable continuity in the face of multiple directorial changes.[2]

Ford Foundation support

The Ford Foundation established its first ballet training program in 1958; beginning in 1959, the Foundation offered grants covering tuition and expenses for advanced ballet students selected to attend either New York City Ballet’s School of American Ballet or San Francisco Ballet School. In 1963, the Foundation then awarded a substantial ten-year grant to the SF Ballet School, establishing it, along with the School of American Ballet, as vocational schools of national stature. The grants awarded by the Foundation allowed the two schools to conduct nationwide auditions, with the SF Ballet School focusing on the Western states. When the grant ended, the School was able to support its own audition process, which has extended to include the Eastern U.S. since 1979.[2]

Prix de Lausanne

San Francisco Ballet School has a longstanding relationship with the Prix de Lausanne, awarding full one-year scholarships to the winners of the prestigious Swiss-based competition.

School programs

Admission to the school is by audition only. All students are accepted on a trial basis, with a yearly renewal process that involves rigorous evaluation by the faculty and associate director. Students may be awarded merit-based scholarships and Dance in Schools Continuing Scholarships by the School associate director, and they may apply for need-based financial aid.

School-year program

The School is in session from September to June, with students at Levels 1 through 3 attending classes two or three days a week and students at Level 4 and up attending five to six days a week. Advanced students must attend during the regular school day; many must make accommodations to their regular school schedules.[3] The diverse curriculum, grounded in classical technique, also includes classes in contemporary dance, corps de ballet, music, conditioning/floor barre, and character dance. The program culminates in the year-end SF Ballet School Student Showcase, which offers the public an opportunity to experience the work of students at all levels of the School. Performance proceeds support the scholarship programs.[4]

Stage experience

In addition to their performances in the annual Student Showcase at the end of the school year, students have other performance opportunities. Approximately 150 students are chosen by audition to dance in the yearly San Francisco Ballet production of Nutcracker. Students also have the opportunity to dance in productions such as Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote and Swan Lake. The most advanced students may also dance with SF Ballet in repertory and participate in company tours. Students may also have the opportunity to participate in performances of the San Francisco Opera and other ballet companies that tour the Bay Area.[2]

Trainee Program

The San Francisco Ballet School Trainee Program, established in 2004, is a one- to two-year pre-professional program for advanced students who have been invited to join by San Francisco Ballet’s artistic director and the School’s associate director. The program offers a nurturing and vigorous environment that aims to make seamless the transition from student to professional dancer. Trainees ranging in age from 16 to 19 participate in daily classes, as well as rehearse and perform SF Ballet repertory and works staged specifically for them. Trainees also participate in workshops and in community outreach, and they perform regularly with San Francisco Ballet and throughout the Bay Area in a variety of settings, including some overseas.[5]

Summer session

The School’s summer session offers programs specifically designed for student dancers ages 12 to 18 at the intermediate and advanced/pre-professional levels. Program 1, a three-week intermediate program, is designed to give students a deeper understanding of ballet as an art form. Program 2, a four-week intensive program for advanced and pre-professional students, exposes students to the SF Ballet repertory and explores the demands of a professional career.[6]

Pre-ballet program

Prior to 2015, the School’s Pre-ballet program was for children aged six and seven. Starting in 2015, the pre-ballet program was expanded to include classes for children aged four and five. Pre-ballet requires no audition, though class size is limited. The program’s classes meet once a week; the children focus on basic ballet technique, proper body alignment, and musicality. After completing the program, students of age who wish to continue their studies must audition to enter the SF Ballet School at Level 1.[7]

Outreach and Education

The San Francisco Ballet Center for Dance Education is one of the strongest arts outreach and education programs in the country, and is continuously used as the gold standard for community outreach in ballet. With community programs touching over 25,000 people annually, San Francisco Ballet donates over 4,000 tickets to the community in hopes of enriching lives with dance.

Dance In Schools

Established in 1979, Dance in Schools and Communities (DISC) was created in response to an expressed need for arts instruction in the public schools that would also provide a means of access, education, and opportunity for students of diverse cultural backgrounds. [8]

The Dance in Schools program teaches dance and movement to 3,500 students in the San Francisco Unified School District. Of these students, 60-70 are chosen to attend San Francisco Ballet on a continuing education scholarship. Dance in Schools alumni have danced professionally for San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and Dance Theater of Harlem.

Community Matinees

Two times a season, San Francisco Ballet holds community matinees for students across the Bay Area. These matinees are shortened programs with excerpts of ballets the company is currently performing. With reasonably priced tickets and study guides published by the ballet company, it is an accessible way to expose students to fine art.

Leadership

1975–2012

After the retirement of Harold Christensen in 1975, Richard L. Cammack was brought in as School director by the SF Ballet Company’s new co-director, Michael Smuin. Under Cammack’s leadership, SF Ballet School was federally approved for foreign students and received authorization from the California Department of Education.[2] Cammack also oversaw the School’s move to its current state-of-the-art facilities on Franklin Street in 1983.

When Helgi Tomasson became San Francisco Ballet’s new artistic director and leader of the School in 1985, he appointed San Francisco Ballet ballerina Nancy Johnson as its head. In 1993, Lola de Avila was appointed to lead the School (Associate Director, SF Ballet School), and she held that position until 1999. When de Avila left, Gloria Govrin stepped into the position. De Avila returned in 2006 to serve as associate director until 2012, when Patrick Armand stepped into the role.[9]

Patrick Armand

Patrick Armand was appointed associate director of the San Francisco Ballet School in September 2012, after serving for two years as principal of the SF Ballet School Trainee Program. A native of Marseille, France, Armand studied at the Ecole de Danse de Marseille and won the Prix de Lausanne in 1980. After continuing his studies at the School of American Ballet and the Centre de Danse International in Cannes, he joined Ballet Theatre Français in 1981, where he was promoted to principal dancer in 1983. He was nominated that same year for a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in Béjart’s Song of a Wayfarer with Rudolf Nureyev.

Armand joined the London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) in 1984, at the invitation of Peter Schaufuss. In 1988, he performed Siegfried in the world premiere of Natalia Makarova’s Swan Lake and was voted best dancer of the year by the British magazine Dance and Dancers. In 1990, he left to join Boston Ballet, under the direction of Bruce Marks.

In 2002, Armand assumed directorship of Studio Ballet Colette Armand in Marseille; in 2006 he was appointed teacher and ballet master of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. In addition, since 2010 Armand has been the official male coach and teacher for the Prix de Lausanne, and he served on the competition’s jury in 1998 and 2009. He has also been a frequent guest teacher for schools and companies in Amsterdam, Florence, London, Naples, Tokyo, and Toronto.[10]

Guest faculty

The guest faculty of SF Ballet School is, as of October 2013:

Notable alumni

More than 50 percent of current San Francisco Ballet dancers were trained at the San Francisco Ballet School. Alumni of the School include:[11]

References

  1. ↑ Gereben, Janos. "From Merola to S.F. Ballet School Showcase". San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Steinberg, Cobbett (1983). San Francisco Ballet: The First Fifty Years. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-9611194-0-3.
  3. ↑ "SF Ballet School website". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  4. ↑ "SF Ballet School website". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ "SF Ballet School website". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ "SF Ballet School website". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  7. ↑ "SF Ballet School website". Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  8. ↑ https://www.sfballet.org/outreach/dance_in_schools
  9. ↑ "SF Ballet School website". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  10. ↑ "SF Ballet School website". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  11. ↑ "deballet.com".

Further reading

Coordinates: 37°46′43″N 122°25′18″W / 37.77849°N 122.4218°W / 37.77849; -122.4218

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