San Francisco Ballet at 75: America's Oldest Professional Ballet Company Celebrates Anniversary in 2008

San Francisco Ballet at 75: America's Oldest Professional Ballet Company Celebrates Anniversary in 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- San Francisco Ballet, America's oldest professional ballet company, announced plans for its 75th anniversary in 2008. Highlights include a festival of 10 world premieres by some of the world's top choreographers, appearances by three international ballet companies, a world premiere by San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson and the Company premiere of Jerome Robbins' West Side Story Suite. Other major initiatives include a national telecast, a commemorative book/DVD and a four-city American Tour. The San Francisco Ballet School also celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2008.

(Photo:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070510/SFTH040 )

The Ballet's 75th Anniversary Season, from January 29 to May 6, 2008, consists of six programs as well as a New Works Festival of 10 world premieres. The anniversary season also includes the revival of Filling Station, one of the oldest American folk ballets, by former San Francisco Ballet Director Lew Christensen; an all-Jerome Robbins Program, (commemorating the 10th anniversary of the choreographer's death) and the Company premiere of West Side Story Suite; appearances by three international companies, including Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, The National Ballet of Canada, and New York City Ballet; and the return of Tomasson's full-length production of the classic Giselle. Prior to the repertory season, Tomasson's Nutcracker runs from December 13 through 30, 2007.

The New Works Festival includes 10 world premieres by 10 renowned choreographers from April 22 through May 6, 2008. Participating choreographers are Julia Adam, Val Caniparoli, Jorma Elo, Margaret Jenkins (commissioned music by Paul Dresher), James Kudelka (commissioned music by Rodney Sharman), Mark Morris (commissioned music by John Adams and costumes by Isaac Mizrahi), Yuri Possokhov, Paul Taylor, Stanton Welch, and Christopher Wheeldon.

KQED Public Television in San Francisco and San Francisco Ballet are partnering to present a national telecast of Helgi Tomasson's classic Nutcracker, with production funding provided by First Republic Bank and the Herbert Family. The program will be available nationally for broadcast in late 2008.

In fall 2008, San Francisco Ballet embarks on a four-city national tour at: Harris Theater in Chicago (September 16-21, 2008), New York City Center (October 8-19, 2008), Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California (November 11-16, 2008), and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (November 25-30, 2008).

Chronicle Books publishes San Francisco Ballet at Seventy-Five, a portrait of San Francisco Ballet written by dance historian Janice Ross. The illustrated book also includes a DVD and goes on sale to the public in fall 2007.

The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Music Director Martin West have recorded Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, which goes on sale in late 2007.

San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a number of "firsts" since its founding in 1933: the first American productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker and the first 20th century American Coppelia.

San Francisco Ballet is one of the three largest ballet companies in the United States. The Company presents more than 100 annual performances, both locally and internationally. Under the direction of Helgi Tomasson for more than two decades, the Company has achieved an international reputation as one of the world's preeminent ballet companies. In 2005, San Francisco Ballet won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Dance." In 2006, San Francisco Ballet was the first non-European company elected "Company of the Year" in Dance Europe magazine's annual readers' poll.

For more information, please visit http://www.sfballet.org/at75 or call 415-865-2000.

Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070510/SFTH040
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: San Francisco Ballet

CONTACT: Missy Cohan, +1-415-561-0888, ext. 2301, or Missy@landispr.com;
or Kyra Jablonsky, +1-415-553-4667, or kjablonsky@sfballet.org

Web site:

http://www.sfballet.org/at75

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