San Francisco Ballet 
War Memorial Opera House
301 Van Ness Avenue 
Information: 415-865-2000 
Fax: 415-703-9408 
Group Ticket Phone: 415-553-4672 
http://www.sfballet.org/

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ANNOUNCES ITS 67TH REPERTORY SEASON JANUARY THROUGH MAY, 2000

SEASON INCLUDES "DISCOVERY PROGRAM" FEATURING SIX PREMIERES BY EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHERS

LILA YORK COMMISSIONED TO CREATE SECOND WORK FOR COMPANY

NATALIA MAKAROVA’S ACT II OF LA BAYADÈRE, RUDOLF NUREYEV’S ACT III OF RAYMONDA AND GEORGE BALANCHINE’S SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS ENTER REPERTOIRE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Tuesday, May 4, 1999 – San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson announced today the repertoire and performance schedule for the Company’s 67th Repertory Season to be presented at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. The Season will begin with thirty-three performances of Nutcracker December 14 through 31, continuing the tradition of presenting the family classic for over 100,000 patrons each year. Following a one-time-only Opening Night Gala on Monday, January 24, San Francisco Ballet’s 2000 Repertory Season will consist of eight programs performed in alternating repertory February 1 through May 7.

As America’s oldest professional ballet company, San Francisco Ballet continues to commission new works from some of today’s most sought after choreographers and introduce audiences to existing works by master choreographers, as well as present fresh and exciting interpretations of classic full-length productions. For the 2000 Repertory Season, Tomasson has commissioned a new ballet by choreographer Lila York, who created El Grito (The Cry) for the Company in 1997. He has also asked up-and-coming choreographers Julia Adam, David Palmer, Yuri Possokhov, Christopher Stowell, Christopher Wheeldon and Vladimir Anguelov to create ballets for a newly conceived "Discovery Program." For the first time, San Francisco Ballet will present the second act of Natalia Makarova’s famous production of the classic La Bayadère, the third act of Rudolf Nureyev’s staging of Raymonda, and George Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements.

In addition to these works, the 2000 Repertory Season will include the return of Tomasson’s acclaimed full-length productions of Giselle and Romeo & Juliet. Ballets which will return after being presented in 1999 include Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s The Invitation, Antony Tudor’s Gala Performance, Mark Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet and Stanton Welch’s Taiko. Ballets to receive revivals include Balanchine’s Bugaku, Prodigal Son and Serenade, David Bintley’s The Dance House, and Tomasson’s Beads of Memory and Nanna’s Lied.

Upon making the announcement, Tomasson stated, "I’m delighted to invite seven choreographers to create new works for the Company next year. These commissions illustrate my commitment to nurturing creativity and providing our artists with ambitious challenges." He continued, "In addition to the commissioned premieres, we’ll acquire Nureyev’s Raymonda Act III and Makarova’s La Bayadère Act II, as well as Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements, which was a significant ballet in my own career as a dancer. And I am pleased to bring back my production of Romeo & Juliet."

During the 2000 Repertory Season, the Company will perform a total of sixty-one performances, as compared to sixty-four performances in 1999. Performances on Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday evenings are at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday evenings are at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2:00 p.m. The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra will accompany all performances

America’s oldest ballet company, regarded as one of its finest, performs an eclectic repertoire of full-length, neo-classical and contemporary ballets. Performances at 8 pm unless otherwise noted. February 1, 2 (7:30 pm), 4, 6 (2 pm), 9, 10, 11, 12 (2 & 8 pm): Program I: "Serenade"; "Prodigal Son"; "Symphony in Three Movements." February 3, 5 (2 & 8 pm), 8, 9 (7:30 pm), 11, 13 (2 pm): Program II: "Taiko"; "The Dance House"; "Gala Performance." February 22, 23 (7:30 pm), 24, 25, 26 (2 & 8 pm), 27 (2 pm): Program III: "Giselle"

 

Oakland Ballet Company History
Paramount Theatre
2025 Broadway
Oakland (21st and Broadway, one block from the 19th Street BART Station)
http://www.oaklandballet.org/

One of the West's major professional ballet companies, Oakland Ballet is celebrating its 32nd year with the 1997 Fall Season. The Compnay was founded in 1965 by Ronn Guidi, an Oakland native and student of Raoul Pause, a former student fo the great Diaghilev dancer and choreographer Adolph Bolm. Among dance companies, Oakland Ballet has achieved a level of distinction not only by reaching its 32nd year, but for being one of only American companies still under the leadership of its Founding Artistic Director.

Throughout its 31-year history, Oakland Ballet has been internationally recognized for the historical reconstruction of important ballets from the repertoire of the legendary Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev, together with classic works of Americana and innovative contemporary choreography by major West Coast choreographers. Oakland Ballet was the first American ballet company to perform the masterworks of famed Ballets Russes choreographer Bronislava Nijinska, sister of the legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, including the first reconstruction of Le Train Bleu, her famed 1924 collaboration wiht Darius Milhaud, Jean Cocteau, Henri Laurens, and Pablo Picasso. In 1981, Oakland Ballet staged the first U.S. performances of Nijinskia's Les Noces, set to the famous score by Igor Stravinsky based on Russian peasant folk themes. This production has since been revived numerous times worldwide, including an historical production in June of 1995 in St. Petersburg supervised by Oakland Ballet's Ballet Master Howard Sayette, which constituted the first native performances of Les Noces in Russia. In October of 1995, the Company added yet another jewel to its historical wing by mounting a reconstruction of Bronislava Nijinska's Bolero, the original 1928 Ida Rubenstien ballet for which Maurice Ravel wrote his famous score.

Other noted revivals by Oakland Ballet include works by legendary choreographers Michel Fokine, Kurt Jooss, Charles Weidman, and Antony Tudor, as well as faithful recreations of historically significant American dance works such as Eugene Loring's Billy the Kid, Ruthanna Boris' Cakewalk, and Agnes de Mille's Fall River Legend. In addition, the Company has commissioned works from noted West Coast choreographers Tandy Beal, Margaret Jenkins, Remy Charlip, Emily Keeler and Betsy Erickson. Oakland Ballet is the only West Coast company to have been awarded grants from the National Choreography Project.

In addition to its home season at the historic Paramount Theatre, Oakland Ballet currently maintains one of the largest dance touring programs in the United States, performing to over 60,000 people annually.