CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON’S CINDERELLA RETURNS TO SAN FRANCISCO BALLET

San Francisco Ballet's 90th Anniversary Season is featuring Christopher Wheeldon's adaptation of Cinderella©, with Sergei Prokofiev's score, opened on March 31st at the War Memorial Opera House and continuing until April 8th. Wheeldon's Cinderella takes a captivating twist on the well-known fairy tale, with the protagonist controlling her own fate after the loss of her mother, rather than relying on a fairy godmother or the stroke of midnight.

The production, inspired by the darker Brothers Grimm version of the story, boasts set and costume designs by Tony Award-winning designer Julian Crouch and San Francisco-native puppeteer Basil Twist. The dazzling end of Act I, which The New York Times describes as a "triumph of fantasy," is directed by Twist and features a tree growing from Cinderella's tears. With an enormous 197 roles and 370 costumes, including Cinderella's gold gown detailed with computer-printed feathers, the production is a co-production with Dutch National Ballet, and it premiered in the United States with SF Ballet in 2013 before touring the world.

Casting for Cinderella includes Soloist Isabella DeVivo in her role debut as Cinderella, while Principal Dancer Max Cauthorn also makes his role debut as Prince Guillaume. Additionally, Principal Dancer Isaac Hernández performs as Prince Guillaume for the first time with SF Ballet, having previously played the role at English National Ballet in 2019. Cinderella is Wheeldon's only full-length ballet for SF Ballet and one of the 15 ballets he has choreographed for the Company. The production was last performed at SF Ballet in 2020.

CALENDAR: Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:30 pm Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 7:30 pm Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 7:30 pm Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8 pm Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 2 and 8 pm

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A Classic Holiday Tradition In San Francisco - Helgi Tomasson's Nutcracker

Snow in San Francisco?! Twelve times a week as San Francisco Ballet began thirty-three performances of Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcracker. A Bay Area tradition of the past eighteen years. Across the cast are 110 SF Ballet School children slowly returning to pre-pandemic shows.

“This is a most joyous return to the stage for our students, many of whom have missed their favorite holiday tradition over the past three years,” says SF Ballet School Director Patrick Armand. “Nutcracker offers an invaluable opportunity to prepare a dancer for their career, to instill professional values and rigor in a supportive and fun environment—we are thrilled to be back.” This year Tomasson’s Nutcracker is set in San Francisco in 1915 during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Production features designs by Tony Award winners Michael Yeargan (scenic) and Martin Pakledinaz (costume), lighting designs by James F. Ingalls, and projection design by Wendall K. Harrington, and an iconic blizzard of 150 pounds of snow billowing from the fly space.

Fun Facts

Nutcracker features 83 Company dancers and 110 SF Ballet School students in 183 breathtaking costumes, the largest production in SF Ballet’s 90-year history.

150 pounds of “snow” are used for each performance, requiring at least 12 stagehands to deploy. The snow is also recycled from year to year, which means that some of it is from 2004, the year of the premiere.

Nutcracker uses 45 stagehands while a typical triple-bill performance uses approximately 20. The houses on the street drop in Act 1 are based on San Francisco’s iconic “Painted Ladies.”

San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker continues through Tuesday, December 27th at the War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA. For tickets and additional information, visit www.sfballet.org or call (415) 865-2000, M-F 10am-4pm.

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