ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION CREDITS SAN FRANCISCO BALLET

Cinderella©

Running Time: Act I 48 minutes Intermission 20 minutes Act II 40 minutes Intermission 15 minutes Act III 28 minutes Total: 2 hours, 31 minutes Composer: Sergei Prokofiev Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Assistant to the Choreographer: Jacquelin Barrett Libretto: Craig Lucas Scenic and Costume Design: Julian Crouch Lighting Design: Natasha Katz Tree and Carriage Sequence Direction/Design: Basil Twist Projection Design: Daniel Brodie Scenic Associate: Frank McCullough World Premiere: December 13, 2012—Dutch National Ballet, Het Muziektheater; Amsterdam, Netherlands U.S. Premiere: May 3, 2013—San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House; San Francisco, California Cinderella© is a co-production of San Francisco Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. Production Credits Music: Cinderella, Op. 87 by Sergei Prokofiev, used by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. Masks constructed by Julian Crouch. Projection Programmer, Patrick Southern. Scenic construction by Het Muziektheater Scenic and Paint Shop. Special thanks to Oliver Haller, Head of Costume Department for Dutch National Ballet. Costume construction by Das Gewand, Maßschneiderei Rainer Schoppe, Lowland Tailors, Sacha Keir and Phil Reynolds, Kim Schouten, Esther Datema, Bert Nuhaan, and Klaus Schreck.

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CONTACT: Kyra Jablonsky, 415.865.6603 kjablonsky@sfballet.org Rena Nishijima, 415.865.6610 rnishijima@sfballet.org

2017 REPERTORY SEASON LISTING

PROGRAM 1 THE JOY OF DANCE HAFFNER SYMPHONY Mozart/Tomasson/Loquasto/Skelton

FRAGILE VESSELS* Rachmaninoff/Bubeníček/Belantič/

Bubeníček/French IN THE COUNTENANCE OF KINGS Stevens/Peck/Warren/Baker

Jan. 24 eve, 25 eve, 27 eve, 29 mat, Feb. 2 eve, 4 mat & eve PROGRAM 2 MODERN MASERS SEVEN SONATAS Scarlatti/Ratmansky/Hynes/Fields YURI POSSOKHOV WORLD PREMIERE* Demutsky/Possokhov/Zappone/Nichols

PAS/PARTS 2016 Willems/Forsythe/Galloway

Jan. 26 eve, 28 mat & eve, 31 eve, Feb. 1 eve, 3 eve, 5 mat

PROGRAM 3 FULL-LENGTH PRODUCTION FRANKENSTEIN^+ Liebermann/Scarlett/Macfarlane/Finn/Ross Feb. 17 eve, 18 mat & eve, 19 mat, 21 eve, 22 eve, 23 eve, 25 eve, 26 mat PROGRAM 4 MUST-SEE BALANCHINE STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO Stravinsky/Balanchine/Pinkham after Bates PRODIGAL SON Prokofiev/Balanchine/Rouault/Rosenthal DIAMONDS Tchaikovsky/Balanchine March 7 eve, 8 eve, 10 eve, 12 mat, 16 eve, 18 mat & eve * World Premiere ^American Company Premiere +North American Premiere

2017 Repertory Season Calendar/Page 2 PROGRAM 5 CONTEMPORARY VOICES FUSION Fitkin, Burman/Possokhov/ Pierce/Woodall/Ingalls

SALOME* Moon/Pita/Seabra/French FEARFUL SYMMETRIES Adams/Scarlett/Morrell/Finn March 9 eve, 11 mat & eve, 14 eve, 15 eve, 17 eve, 19 mat PROGRAM 6 FULL-LENGTH PRODUCTION SWAN LAKE Tchaikovsky/Tomasson after Petipa, Ivanov/Fensom/Tipton/Ortel/Ward March 31 eve, April 1 mat & eve, 2 mat, 6 eve, 7 eve, 11 eve, 12 eve

PROGRAM 7 MADE FOR SF BALLET TRIO Tchaikovsky/Tomasson/Nichols/Zappone/ Dennis MYLES THATCHER WORLD PREMIERE* Nyman/Thatcher/Roemer/French WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR© Bosso, Vivaldi/Wheeldon/Pakledinaz/Ingalls April 5 eve, 8 mat & eve, 9 mat, 13 eve, 14 eve, 18 eve PROGRAM 8 FULL-LENGTH PRODUCTION CINDERELLA Prokofiev/Wheeldon/Lucas/Crouch/Katz/ Twist/Brodie April 28 eve, 29 mat & eve, 30 mat, May 2 eve, 3 eve, 4 eve, 6 mat & eve, 7 mat * World Premiere ^American Company Premiere +North American Premiere

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SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ARTISTS OF THE COMPANY 2017 REPERTORY SEASON

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL CHOREOGRAPHER

Helgi Tomasson

PRINCIPAL DANCERS Dores André

Taras Domitro Jaime Garcia Castilla

Davit Karapetyan Carlos Quenedit Yuan Yuan Tan

Frances Chung Lorena Feijoo Tiit Helimets

Maria Kochetkova Aaron Robison

Sarah Van Patten Vanessa Zahorian

Carlo Di Lanno Mathilde Froustey

Luke Ingham Vitor Luiz

Sofiane Sylve Joseph Walsh

PRINCIPAL CHARACTER DANCERS

Ricardo Bustamante Val Caniparoli Anita Paciotti

Rubén Martín Cintas

SOLOISTS

Sasha De Sola Koto Ishihara

James Sofranko Anthony Vincent

Daniel Deivison-Oliveira Francisco Mungamba

Jennifer Stahl Wei Wang

WanTing Zhao

Angelo Greco Julia Rowe

Lauren Strongin Hansuke Yamamoto

CORPS DE BALLET Kamryn Baldwin

Samantha Bristow Diego Cruz

Benjamin Freemantle Esteban Hernandez

Elizabeth Mateer Steven Morse

Lauren Parrott Rebecca Rhodes Natasha Sheehan

John-Paul Simoens Lonnie Weeks

Sean Bennett Max Cauthorn

Isabella DeVivo Jordan Hammond

Ellen Rose Hummel Norika Matsuyama

Kimberly Marie Olivier Elizabeth Powell

Emma Rubinowitz Henry Sidford

Myles Thatcher Maggie Weirich

Ludmila Bizalion Thamires Chuvas

Jahna Frantziskonis Jillian Harvey Blake Kessler

Lee Alex Meyer-Lorey Sean Orza

Alexander Reneff-Olson Skyla Schreter

Miranda Silveira Mingxuan Wang

Ami Yuki

APPRENTICES Alexandre Cagnat Nathaniel Remez

Shené Lazarus

Davide Occhipinti Isabella Walsh

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BALLET MASTER & ASSISTANT TO THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Ricardo Bustamante

BALLET MASTERS

Felipe Diaz Betsy Erickson Anita Paciotti Katita Waldo

COMPANY TEACHERS Helgi Tomasson Patrick Armand*

Ricardo Bustamante Felipe Diaz

CHOREOGRAPHER IN RESIDENCE

Yuri Possokhov

MUSIC DIRECTOR AND PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Martin West

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*guest teacher

HISTORY OF SAN FRANCISCO BALLET

San Francisco Ballet, the oldest professional ballet company in America, has emerged as a world-class arts organization since it was founded as the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1933. Initially, its primary purpose was to train dancers to appear in lavish, full-length opera productions. Willam Christensen arrived in 1938 and choreographed the Company’s first full-length production, Coppélia, the following year. In 1940, he staged the first American full-length production of Swan Lake and on Christmas Eve 1944, Christensen launched a national holiday tradition with the American premiere of Nutcracker—the first complete version of the ballet ever staged in the United States. In 1942, the Company became a completely separate entity from the opera and was renamed San Francisco Ballet. Willam Christensen was artistic director, and his brother Harold was appointed director of the San Francisco Ballet School, a position he retained for 33 years. A third brother, Lew Christensen, America’s first premier danseur, joined Willam as co-director in 1951, and took over the Company the following year. Under Lew’s direction, the Company made its East Coast debut at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1956 and toured 11 Asian nations the following year, marking the first performances by an American ballet company in Asia. In 1972, after performing in various San Francisco theaters, the Company settled permanently into the War Memorial Opera House for its annual residency. The following year, Michael Smuin was appointed associate artistic director and celebrated his new partnership with Lew Christensen by collaborating on a full-length production of Cinderella. In 1976, Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet became the first full-length ballet and the first performance by a West Coast company to be shown on the PBS television series Dance in America. In 1981, Smuin’s The Tempest—the first ballet broadcast live from the War Memorial Opera House—was nominated for three Emmy Awards (Willa Kim received the award for Outstanding Costume Design). Three years later, Smuin received an Emmy Award for Choreography for the Dance in America national broadcast of A Song for Dead Warriors. In 1974, SF Ballet faced bankruptcy, but its supporters and the community responded with an extraordinary grassroots effort called “Save Our Ballet,” which successfully brought the Company back from the brink. That same year, Dr. Richard E. LeBlond, Jr. was appointed president and general manager of SF Ballet. He developed the first long-range plan for an American dance company, and in 18 months the organization was in the black financially. Helgi Tomasson’s arrival as artistic director in July 1985 marked the beginning of a new era for SF Ballet. Like Lew Christensen, Tomasson was, for many years, a leading dancer for the most important ballet choreographer of the 20th century, George Balanchine.

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SF Ballet History/Page 2 Less than two years after Tomasson’s arrival, SF Ballet unveiled its fourth production of Nutcracker in December 1986. Tomasson has since staged acclaimed full-length productions of many classics, including Swan Lake (1988, 2009); The Sleeping Beauty (1990); Romeo & Juliet (1994); Giselle (1999); Don Quixote, co-staged with former Principal Dancer and current Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov (2003); and Nutcracker (2004). In 1991, SF Ballet performed in New York City for the first time in 26 years, returning in 1993, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2013. Following the initial tour, The New York Times proclaimed, “Mr. Tomasson has accomplished the unprecedented: He has pulled a so-called regional company into the national ranks, and he has done so by honing the dancers into a classical style of astonishing verve and purity. SF Ballet under Helgi Tomasson’s leadership is one of the spectacular success stories of the arts in America.” In May 1995, SF Ballet hosted 12 ballet companies from around the world for UNited We Dance: An International Festival, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter, which took place in the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco. Never before had a dance event brought together over 150 international artists for two weeks of creative exchange and inspiration. 2008 marked the Company’s 75th Anniversary Season, which culminated in a New Works Festival of 10 world premieres by 10 of the dance world’s most diverse and acclaimed choreographers including Julia Adam, Val Caniparoli, Jorma Elo, Margaret Jenkins, James Kudelka, Mark Morris, Yuri Possokhov, Paul Taylor, Stanton Welch, and Christopher Wheeldon. Other anniversary initiatives included a commemorative book, San Francisco Ballet at Seventy-Five; special exhibitions; an alumni reunion weekend; and the broadcast of Tomasson’s Nutcracker on PBS’s Great Performances Dance in America series, produced in partnership with KQED Public Television in San Francisco. In December 2011, the American premiere of John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, performed by SF Ballet, was broadcast internationally, as well as nationally on PBS’s Great Performances Dance in America. In 2015, Tomasson celebrated his 30th anniversary as artistic director of the Company, with the San Francisco Chronicle noting, “What Tomasson has done here over these three decades is to transform a respected regional American ballet company into an international-caliber organization that commands worldwide respect for the depth of its repertoire and its superb technical standards.” SF Ballet continues to enrich and expand its repertory and presents approximately 100 performances annually. The Company’s vast repertory includes works by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, David Bintley, August Bournonville, Val Caniparoli, Lew Christensen, Nacho Duato, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Jirí Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, Wayne McGregor, Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Hans van Manen, Peter Martins, Mark Morris, Rudolf Nureyev, Justin Peck, Marius Petipa, Roland Petit, Yuri Possokhov, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Liam Scarlett, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, and Christopher Wheeldon.

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SF Ballet History/Page 3 In recent years, the Company’s touring program has become increasingly ambitious. In fall 2008, as part of its year-long 75th Anniversary Celebration, SF Ballet embarked on a critically acclaimed four-city American tour with engagements at Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance, New York City Center, Southern California’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. SF Ballet has also enjoyed frequent overseas tours, including engagements at prestigious venues such as the famed Opéra de Paris-Palais Garnier in Paris (1994, 2001) and Théâtre du Châtelet (2014); London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre (1999, 2004, 2012) and the Royal Opera House (2002); Athens’ Megaron Theatre (2002) and Herod Atticus Amphitheatre (2004); the Tivoli Garden Concert Hall in Copenhagen (1998, 2010); and the Edinburgh International Festival at the Edinburgh Playhouse (1997, 2003). In fall 2009, SF Ballet made its first trip to the People’s Republic of China, with performances in Shanghai and Beijing and in 2015, the Company returned to both cities as part of a two-week tour. The Company’s extensive touring program has garnered numerous accolades and awards. In 2005, SF Ballet won its first Laurence Olivier Award, for its 2004 fall season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Of the engagement, London’s Sunday Times proclaimed, “Helgi Tomasson’s outstanding artistic direction…has transformed a regional American troupe into one of the world’s top ballet companies.” In 2006, in a readers’ poll conducted by Dance Europe magazine, SF Ballet was the first non-European company to be voted “Company of the Year” by the publication. In 2008, SF Ballet received the Jerome Robbins Award for excellence in dance. In 2012, SF Ballet’s touring schedule included engagements in London and Washington, D.C., as well as first time visits to Hamburg, Moscow, and Sun Valley, Idaho. In fall 2013, the Company performed at New York’s David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, where The New York Times declared SF Ballet “a national treasure.” In July 2014, the Company toured to Paris as part of Les Etés de la Danse Festival, marking the 10th anniversary of its inaugural engagement with the festival. At Théâtre du Châtelet, SF Ballet presented over 20 works by 15 choreographers over a gala evening and 17 performances. Of the tour, The Financial Times remarked, “Where ballet goes from here is anyone’s guess, but as dancers and choreographers continue to flock to Tomasson, the tell-tale signs may well be found in California.” Highlights of SF Ballet’s 2016 Season include the North American premiere of Forsythe’s Pas/Parts; the Company’s first work by Justin Peck; and three full-length ballets including Tomasson’s acclaimed Swan Lake, Balanchine/Danilova’s Coppélia, and Cranko’s Onegin.

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SF Ballet History/Page 4 The San Francisco Ballet School, overseen by Tomasson and the School’s Associate Director Patrick Armand, attracts students from around the world, training approximately 350 annually. In addition to filling the ranks of SF Ballet, graduates have gone on to join distinguished ballet companies throughout the world.

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HELGI TOMASSON

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL CHOREOGRAPHER

Helgi Tomasson has held the position of artistic director for San Francisco Ballet since July 1985. Since then, the Company has evolved from a respected regional troupe to an international company praised for its broad repertory, dancers of uncommon range and skill, and a vision that continually sets the standard for the international dance world. San Francisco Ballet is dancing better than it has at any point in its history. As a choreographer, teacher, and coach, Tomasson has fostered an uncompromising classicism that has become the bedrock of the Company’s training. The dancers are energized and inspired by this rigorous training and continue to rise to new heights with each passing year. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, Tomasson began his early ballet training there with an Icelandic teacher and then joined the National Theatre’s affiliated school, which was led by Danish instructors Erik and Lisa Bidsted. At 15, the emerging dancer began his professional career with the celebrated Pantomime Theatre in Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens. Two years later, Jerome Robbins met Tomasson and, impressed by his dancing, arranged a scholarship for him to study at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Soon after, Tomasson began his professional career with The Joffrey Ballet and two years later joined The Harkness Ballet. Over the next six years, he became one of the company’s most celebrated principal dancers. In 1969, Tomasson entered the First International Ballet Competition in Moscow as a United States representative and returned with the Silver Medal (the Gold Medal was awarded to Mikhail Baryshnikov). The following year, Tomasson joined New York City Ballet as a principal dancer and over the course of his career became one of the finest classical dancers of his era. He was one of the foremost interpreters of George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, and both men created several roles expressly for him. In 1982, Tomasson choreographed his first ballet for the School of American Ballet Workshop, which elicited encouragement from Balanchine to continue choreographing. In 1985, Tomasson accepted the invitation from SF Ballet to become artistic director of America’s oldest professional ballet company, drawing to a close a glorious performing career. Since assuming this role, Tomasson has choreographed over 40 ballets, including stunning full-length productions of Don Quixote (co-staged by Yuri Possokhov), Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, and two productions of Swan Lake (1988 and 2009). His intricate and varied works, such as 7 for Eight, Chi-Lin, Concerto Grosso, The Fifth Season, Handel—a Celebration, Meistens Mozart, Nanna’s Lied, and Sonata, showcase the unique qualities of individual dancers. Tomasson’s Prism, which debuted in 2000 at New York City Ballet, received rave reviews and was deemed a “triumph” by The New York Times. In 2004, his new production of

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Tomasson/Page 2 Nutcracker, created in collaboration with an internationally recognized design team, debuted to enthusiastic critic and audience response. The New York Times proclaimed, “This is a Nutcracker on a grand scale…striking, elegant and beautiful.” On December 17, 2008, Tomasson’s Nutcracker was broadcast nationally on Great Performances on PBS, in partnership with KQED Public Television in San Francisco. The strong classical base instilled by Tomasson enables the dancers to effortlessly navigate a myriad of styles by a range of internationally distinguished choreographers. Those invited by Tomasson to create works on the Company have included David Bintley, Val Caniparoli, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, Justin Peck, Yuri Possokhov, Alexei Ratmansky, Paul Taylor, Stanton Welch, and Christopher Wheeldon. Tomasson has also continued to expand SF Ballet’s repertory through acquiring works by renowned choreographers such as Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, August Bournonville, Michel Fokine, Hans van Manen, Wayne McGregor, Sir Kenneth McMillan, Agnes de Mille, Nacho Duato, Flemming Flindt, Roland Petit, Jerome Robbins, and Antony Tudor, among others. Tomasson’s own works have been performed by New York City Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Houston Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón, and Asami Maki Ballet. In Denmark, Tomasson’s 1993 staging of The Sleeping Beauty was the most lavish production ever produced in the Royal Danish Ballet’s history and was filmed for Danish public television in April 1995. Under Tomasson’s direction, SF Ballet has toured the world, receiving praise for its purity and verve. Engagements in China (2009, 2015), Copenhagen (1998, 2010), London (1999, 2001, 2004, 2012), Moscow (2012), New York City (1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2013), and Paris (1989, 1994, 2001, 2005, 2014) are among the highlights of the Company’s history. For the Company’s 2004 London engagement, SF Ballet won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award, its first, in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Dance. Of the tour, The Guardian (UK) noted, “As director of SF Ballet, Helgi Tomasson has started to acquire an aura of infallibility, his expertise in laying down repertory, and in balancing great evenings of dance, is held in envy by the rest of the profession.” Tomasson’s vision, commitment, and dedication to the art of classical dance were demonstrated when he conceived UNited We Dance: An International Festival, produced in San Francisco in May 1995. Created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter, it included 12 international companies of the highest caliber that Tomasson had invited to present new works created by native choreographers. Never before had a dance event brought together over 150 artists for an unprecedented two weeks of creative exchange and inspiration. In spring 2008, as part of its yearlong 75th anniversary celebration, SF Ballet presented a New Works Festival of 10 world premieres by 10 of the dance world’s most diverse and acclaimed choreographers. The festival was called “ambitious and unprecedented” by The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle hailed it as a “daring onslaught of fresh work… this is what the

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Tomasson/Page 3 ballet world needs now.” Tomasson’s achievements have garnered him numerous awards and honors, and he has participated as a judge for ballet competitions in Italy, Russia, France, Finland, and Japan. During the 1970s in his homeland of Iceland, he was named a Knight of the Order of the Falcon for his achievements as a dancer. In 1989, he received Dance Bay Area’s Isadora Duncan Award for his outstanding choreography of Swan Lake. In June 1990, Tomasson was named Commander of the Order of the Falcon by then-President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, for his continuous achievements in the arts. In recognition of his artistic excellence, Tomasson received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 1992. That same year, he received the Dance Magazine Award in recognition of his contributions to the dance world. In 1995, Tomasson joined the Artistic Advisory Board of The Ballet Theatre in Prague, directed by Jana Kurová. Also in 1995, Tomasson was honored with the Cultural Award of The American-Scandinavian Foundation. In 1996, he was presented with a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from Dominican College of San Rafael, in recognition of his value as a role model, his extraordinary career, and his community-service accomplishments. That same year, he was awarded the Isadora Duncan Special Award for UNited We Dance: An International Festival. In 2012, he was named recipient of the Dance/USA Honor, acknowledging individuals’ contributions to dance in America and the role they play in the national dance community. Currently, Tomasson serves on the Board of Directors of the School of American Ballet and the Artistic Committee for the New York Choreographic Institute, and has served as a member of the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Advisory Panel. In May 2001, Tomasson was granted the rank of Officier in the French Order of Arts and Letters, established in 1957 to recognize those who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world. Hugues Gall, then director of the Opéra National de Paris, presented the award in a ceremony attended by the President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson, following SF Ballet’s triumphant opening at the Palais Garnier. In spring 2002, the Board of Trustees of New York’s Juilliard School unanimously voted to bestow an honorary doctoral degree upon Tomasson, as one of five doctorates given annually in different artistic disciplines. In 2005, Tomasson was awarded the prestigious Lew Christensen Medal in honor of his 20th anniversary as artistic director of SF Ballet. In spring 2007, Tomasson won a sustained achievement award from the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, also in recognition of his distinguished, ongoing tenure as artistic director. In May of the same year, during a tour to Iceland’s Reykjavik Arts Festival, Grimsson awarded Tomasson the Grand Cross Star of the Order of the Falcon, the country’s most prestigious honor. In 2008, he was awarded the Commonwealth Club of California’s Distinguished Citizen Award. In January 2010, the Company’s Opening Night Gala, Silver Celebration, honored Tomasson’s remarkable achievements to date.

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Tomasson/Page 4 In 2015, on the occasion of his 30th anniversary as artistic director of the Company, the San Francisco Chronicle noted, “What Tomasson has done here over these three decades is to transform a respected regional American ballet company into an international-caliber organization that commands worldwide respect for the depth of its repertoire and its superb technical standards.” In addition to his role as artistic director and principal choreographer of the Company, Tomasson is the director of the San Francisco Ballet School. For Tomasson, the School is central to the life and development of the Company. Just as he expects the finest dancing and most meticulous attention to detail from his dancers, he demands the highest standards for training the students in the School. Tomasson lives in San Francisco with his wife, Marlene, who was dancing with The Joffrey Ballet when they met. They have two sons, Erik and Kris.

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HELGI TOMASSON ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL CHOREOGRAPHER

REPERTORY

Choreographed for San Francisco Ballet:

Caprice (2014)

Trio (2011)

Swan Lake (2009)

On a Theme of Paganini (2008)

On Common Ground (2007)

Blue Rose (2006)

The Fifth Season (2006)

Bagatelles (2005)

Nutcracker (2004)

7 for Eight (2004)

Don Quixote (2003)

Concerto Grosso (2003)

Chi-Lin (2002)

Bartok Divertimento (2002)

Chaconne for Piano and Two Dancers (1999)

Giselle (1999)

Silver Ladders (1998)

Two Bits (1998)

Twilight (1998)

Criss-Cross (1997)

Pandora Dance (1997)

Soirées Musicales (1996)

Tuning Game (1995)

Sonata (1995)

When We No Longer Touch (1995)

Quartette (1994)

Romeo & Juliet (1994)

Nanna’s Lied (1993)

Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons) (1992)

Forevermore (1992)

Two plus Two (1992)

Aurora Polaris (1991)

Meistens Mozart (1991)

“Haffner” Symphony (1991)

The Sleeping Beauty (1990)

Con Brio (1990)

Valses Poeticos (1990)

Handel—a Celebration (1989)

Swan Lake (1988)

Intimate Voices (1987)

Bizet pas de deux (1987)

Concerto in d: Poulenc (1986)

Confidencias (1986)

Additional Ballets: Prism (2000), choreographed for New York City Ballet “Much Ado…” (1999), choreographed for Alberta Ballet Simple Symphony (1996), choreographed for SF Ballet School Showcase. Beads of Memory (1985), choreographed in 1985 for Houston Ballet Little Waltz (1985), choreographed for New York City Ballet’s Gala on students of School of American Ballet Menuetto (1984), choreographed for New York City Ballet Contredanses (1984), choreographed in 1984 for Finis Jhung’s Chamber Ballet USA Ballet d’Isoline (1983), choreographed for School of American Ballet Giuliani: Variations on a Theme (1982), choreographed for School of American Ballet

CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON

CHOREOGRAPHER

Christopher Wheeldon was born in Yeovil, Somerset, and began his ballet training when he was eight years old. He began studying at The Royal Ballet School at the age of 11. He joined The Royal Ballet in 1991 and won the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition. In 1993 he was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet, where he was promoted to Soloist in 1998. He began choreographing for NYCB with Slavonic Dances for the 1997 Diamond Project. His Scènes de Ballet, a collaboration with artist Ian Falconer, was created for the School of American Ballet’s 1999 Workshop Performances and NYCB’s 50th-anniversary season. After creating Mercurial Manoeuvres for NYCB’s spring 2000 Diamond Project, Wheeldon retired from dancing to concentrate on his choreographic work. In the 2000/01 Season he served as NYCB’s first Artist in Residence, creating two ballets: Polyphonia, set to piano music by György Ligeti, and Variations Sérieuses, set to music by Felix Mendelssohn. In July 2001 he was named NYCB’s first Resident Choreographer, and went on to choreograph at least one ballet a year for NYCB, including Morphoses and Carousel (A Dance) (2002), Carnival of the Animals and Liturgy (2003), After the Rain and An American in Paris (2005), Klavier (2006), and The Nightingale and the Rose (2007). Wheeldon has also been in demand with other leading companies and has created such notable works as Continuum, Within the Golden Hour, Ghosts and Number Nine for San Francisco Ballet, Tryst, DGV: Danse à grande vitesse and Electric Counterpoint for The Royal Ballet, a full-length Swan Lake for Pennsylvania Ballet (2004), and Misericors for the Bolshoi Ballet (2007). Outside the ballet world, he choreographed Dance of the Hours for the New York Metropolitan Opera’s production of Ponchielli’s La gioconda (2006), as well as ballet sequences for the feature film Center Stage (2000) and a Broadway version of Sweet Smell of Success (2002). Throughout his career, Wheeldon has been interested in working with other artists to provoke new dance directions. Among the composers who have written scores for him are James MacMillan, Bright Sheng, and Michael Nyman. He has also worked with such artists as Ian Falconer and James Buckhouse; designers Jean-Marc Puissant, Adrianne Lobel, and Narciso Rodriguez; the author and actor John Lithgow and director Nicholas Hytner. In 2007, Wheeldon founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company with the goal of introducing a spirit of innovation to classical ballet by fostering collaboration among choreographers, dancers, visual artists, designers, composers and others who could bring new life and perspective to the art form. Morphoses was launched at the Vail International Dance Festival in August of that year and performed at Sadler’s Wells in London in September and New York City Center in October.

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Wheeldon/Page 2 For the inaugural season Wheeldon choreographed two new works: Fool’s Paradise and Prokofiev pas de deux. In 2009 Wheeldon worked with Richard Eyre on a production of the opera Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera House and in 2010 his new version of The Sleeping Beauty had its premiere with The Royal Danish Ballet. His full-length ballet Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was created for The Royal Ballet and given its premiere at the Royal Opera House on February 28, 2011. Thirteen Diversions for ABT was first performed in May 2011 and Les Carillons in January 2012, as part of an all-Wheeldon evening at the NYCB. In 2012 he collaborated on two projects with Alastair Marriott, on ‘Trespass’ in Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 for The Royal Ballet in June, and on the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games. Christmas 2012 saw the premiere of his new Cinderella with The Dutch National Ballet, which won the Prix Benois. Wheeldon’s latest work for The Royal Ballet, Aeternum, was given its premiere in February last year and the show went on to win the 2013 Olivier for Best New Dance and the 2014 Critics’ Circle Award for classical choreography. As Wheeldon’s choreography has pushed ballet into new territories, he has been widely praised by critics and audiences alike. He received the Martin E. Segal Award from the Lincoln Center and the American Choreography Award, and in 2005 received the Dance Magazine Award. He won the London Critics’ Circle Award for best new ballet for Polyphonia, and a performance of the piece by NYCB dancers received an Olivier Award. DGV: Danse à grande vitesse was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2006, and the inaugural season of Morphoses at Sadler’s Wells won a South Bank Show Award. He was made a New York City Library Lion in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the culture of the city. In 2012 he was made an Honorary International Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and at the start of this season was named Artistic Associate with The Royal Ballet. In 2014 he is creating A Winter’s Tale for the Royal Ballet and will direct and choreograph a new production of An American in Paris which opens at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris this Christmas, before heading to Broadway.

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JACQUELIN BARRETT

ASSISTANT TO THE CHOREOGRAPHER Trained at The Royal Ballet Lower and Upper Schools, Jacquelin Barrett joined London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) where she danced soloist and principal roles for eight years. She then joined Central School of Ballet as ballet mistress and also worked in this capacity for Northern Ballet Theatre and English National Ballet. She is a guest teacher with companies including The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, and many international schools and companies in Europe, Australia, and Japan. From 1997-08 she taught at The Royal Ballet School, working mainly with the graduate female class. Barrett now works with Christopher Wheeldon and stages his works. She is also the private coach to Lauren Cuthbertson, principal dancer with The Royal Ballet.

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CRAIG LUCAS

LIBRETTIST Craig Lucas is the author of the plays Missing Persons, Reckless, Blue Window, Prelude to a Kiss, God's Heart, The Dying Gaul, Stranger, Small Tragedy, Prayer for My Enemy and The Singing Forest. His screenplays include Blue Window, Longtime Companion, Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, The Secret Lives of Dentists and The Dying Gaul (which he also directed). Lucas has written the scripts for the musicals Marry Me a Little, Songs by Stephen Sondheim, Three Postcards (music and lyrics by Craig Carnelia), and The Light in the Piazza (music and lyrics by Adam Guettel). His opera libretti include Orpheus in Love (composer Gerald Busby) and Two Boys (composer Nico Muhly), which premiered at the English National Opera and appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in December 2013. Lucas directed the world premiere of The Light in the Piazza at the Intiman Theater in Seattle, the film Birds of America, the play This Thing of Darkness (by Lucas and David Schulner) and the plays Saved or Destroyed and Play Yourself (both by Harry Kondoleon).

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JULIAN CROUCH

SCENERY AND COSTUME DESIGN

Julian Crouch is a Brooklyn-based independent director, designer, writer, teacher, illustrator, and musician whose career has spanned theatre, opera, ballet, film, and television. Initially a mask and puppet maker based in London for much of his life, he co-founded London’s Improbable Theatre Company in the mid-199os. Improbable’s productions, which include Animo, 70 Hill Lane, Lifegame, Spirit, Sticky, The Hanging Man, The Wolves in the Walls, and Panic have gained far-reaching national and international recognition. His final production for Improbable which he conceived, directed, and designed was The Devil and Mister Punch. Crouch also co-created, co-directed, and designed the multi-award winning Shockheaded Peter. Crouch’s opera work has included set design and associate director for Satyagraha for the English National Opera and The Metropolitan Opera, creating The Enchanted Island, Doctor Atomic, and staging the 125th Gala for The Met. Other major projects include Jerry Springer: the Opera and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for the National Theatre (London), The Magic Flute for the Welsh National Opera, and Cinderella for Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. On Broadway, Crouch designed Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Big Fish the Musical, and The Addams Family. Most recently he designed Le Petit Prince for Lausanne Opera and co-directed and designed Jedermann for the Salzburg Festival. Crouch was artist in residence at New York’s Park Avenue Armory and is the first commissioned artist for the BRIC House Fireworks Residency Program in Brooklyn, New York. Crouch received a Tony Award nomination for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 2014. Biography courtesy of AhaTalent.co.uk.

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NATASHA KATZ

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Natasha Katz has worked extensively on Broadway as well as in opera and ballet. Katz has designed for 38 Broadway plays and musicals, including the Disney musical The Little Mermaid (2008) and The Addams Family (2010).

Her first Tony Award nomination was for Beauty and the Beast in 1994. Other nominations and awards include: Twelfth Night - Nominee (1999) Tony Award for Best Lighting Design; Aida - Winner (2000) Tony Award for Best Lighting Design; Sweet Smell of Success: The Musical - Nominee (2002) Tony Award for Best Lighting Design; Tarzan: The musical - Nominee (2006) Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical; The Coast of Utopia - Winner (with Brian MacDevitt and Kenneth Posner) 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design and Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play; Follies - Nominee (2012) Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical; and Once - Winner 2012 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical.

Katz also designed Die Soldaten for the New York City Opera; two productions of Norma, for Joan Sutherland; and the original production of The Normal Heart at the New York Shakespeare Festival. In addition, she has designed the lighting for the HBO Television specials Mambo Mouth and Side-O Rama. In 1999, Katz won a Tony for Elton John and Tim Rice’s hit musical Aida. In 2000, she designed lighting for another big Broadway show—Seussical: The Musical. Katz also designed Christopher Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals for New York City Ballet, and has worked with American Ballet Theatre, among other companies.

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BASIL TWIST

PUPPETEER

A native of San Francisco, Basil Twist is a third generation puppeteer now living in New York. He is the sole American to graduate from the iconic École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mezieres, France. Twist’s work was first spotlighted in New York by The Jim Henson International Festival of Puppetry with his award winning The Araneidae Show. Coupled with the subsequent critically praised and multiple award winning Symphonie Fantastique, Twist was revealed as a singular artist of unlimited imagination. Symphonie has since toured internationally and throughout the United States. Highlights of Twist’s subsequent work include Petrushka (commissioned by Lincoln Center), Master Peter's Puppet Show, and Dogugaeshi (The Japan Society), which have toured throughout the world. Collaborative work for dance includes Darkness and Light with Pilobolus and Wonderboy with The Joe Goode Dance Company. In theater, Twist’s highlights include Paula Vogel's play, The Long Christmas Ride Home (directing and designing the West Coast Premiere at The Magic Theatre), Red Beads, Peter and Wendy, Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire for the Comédie-Française with Lee Breuer, puppetry for the Oskar Eustis-directed Hamlet for New York’s Shakespeare in the Park, and Christopher Ashley’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the La Jolla Playhouse. Twist’s collaboration with chanteuse Joey Arias, Arias with a Twist, made international appearances following its run in New York. On Broadway, he created and staged the puppetry work in The Addams Family for which he won a Drama Desk Award and staged the puppetry for the beloved Pee-Wee Herman Show. Twist made his debut at the Comédie-Française with his collaboration on A Streetcar Named Desire with Lee Breuer. Twist’s work is deeply musical in nature. He has conceived and directed two successful operas, Ottorini Respighi’s La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco with the Gotham Chamber Opera at the Lincoln Center and Spoleto USA Festivals and Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel for the Houston and Atlanta Operas. He has adapted his Petrushka to concert hall staging with full orchestra for the Fort Worth and Phoenix Symphonies. His maverick The Rite of Spring–a ballet without dancers—was commissioned by Carolina Performing Arts and made its world premiere at Memorial Hall. Twist has taught at leading universities such as Stanford University, Duke University, New York University, Brown University, and as a guest lecturer for the U.S. Department of State in Russia. He has received an Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, five UNIMA Awards, two Bessie Awards, New York Innovative Theatre Award, Henry Hewes Award, Guggenheim Award, a

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Page 2 USA Artists fellowship, and was most recently awarded a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. In 2012 the city of Washington, D.C. hosted a retrospective of his work, Twist Fest D.C. He is the director of the Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE in New York. Biography courtesy of basiltwist.com.

DANIEL BRODIE

PROJECTION DESIGNER Daniel Brodie’s design credits include projections for Godspell on Broadway; Carrie Fisher's one-woman-show, Wishful Drinking; Basil Twist's Arias with a Twist; and singer Kanye West. Brodie has served as associate designer for New York City Center's Encores production of Merrily We Roll Along and the Broadway productions of Bring it On: the Musical, Magic/Bird, The Pee-wee Herman Show, Rock of Ages, and Lombardi. Awards include the 2011 USITT Rising Star Award and many local theater honors. Brodie also contributes a monthly projection column to Live Design Magazine and has been a guest lecturer at Yale University and Winthrop University.

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FRANK MCCULLOUGH

ASSOCIATE SCENIC DESIGNER Frank McCullough has worked with Julian Crouch and Christopher Wheeldon on the designs for Cinderella, at the Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, and The Nutcracker, at Joffrey Ballet. In addition, he has worked with Crouch on the Broadway productions of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Addams Family, and Big Fish. McCullough is the associate scenic designer for Wheeldon’s Broadway production of An American in Paris. Some of his other Broadway credits include Once, War Horse, The Book of Mormon, and Coast of Utopia. McCullough is originally from Evansville, Indiana and trained at Webster University in St. Louis.

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MARTIN WEST

MUSIC DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR

Martin West is acknowledged as one of the foremost conductors of ballet, garnering critical acclaim throughout the world. Born in Bolton, England, he studied math at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge University, before studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music and London’s Royal Academy of Music. In fall 1997, West made his debut with English National Ballet and was immediately appointed resident conductor. There, he conducted almost half of the company’s performances throughout England and abroad. From 2004-2007 he held the position of principal conductor before relinquishing the post to allow him the flexibility to guest with other companies. West has worked with many of the top companies in North America such as New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, and The National Ballet of Canada as well as the The Royal Ballet in England. West has worked with the Hallé Orchestra, Holland Symfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark. He made his U.S. symphonic conducting debut with Silicon Valley Symphony, resulting in an immediate re-invitation. From 1998 to July 2005, West was the music director of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society. In addition, he had a long association with Pimlico Opera, including conducting a ground-breaking performance of West Side Story inside a prison with the inmates as part of the cast. In fall 2005, West joined San Francisco Ballet, having been a frequent guest since his debut two years earlier. In his ten years as music director he has been credited with raising the standard and profile of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra to new levels and has made a number of critically acclaimed recordings with them, including the complete scores of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, excerpts from Delibes’ Coppélia and Sylvia, and a CD of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky cello music. He and the Orchestra have also made many world premiere recordings, including music by composers such as Bizet, Moszkowski, Shinji Eshima, Kip Winger, and Maury Yeston whose full-length ballet Tom Sawyer was recorded in 2013. In addition, he conducted on the award-winning DVD of John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid as well as Helgi Tomasson’s productions of Nutcracker for PBS and Romeo & Juliet for Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance.

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