San Francisco Ballet in Paris – at Theatre du Chatélet.

By Henning Høholt

PARIS/FRANCE: Les Étés de la Danse, the famouse summer dance festival in Paris has this summer invited the San Francisco Ballet during its leader Helgi Tomasson to guest in Paris.
This outstanding festival is “filling up” the holiday periodes between the Paris opera ballet company, the Theatres de la Ville, du Chaillot and Champs Elysees, giving great experiences for the hungry audience, who also needs entertainment druring thr holiday season, when Paris is full of visitors on holiday, or someone of the citizens who are interested in the possibilities of getting aquainted with foreign companies, who not regularly are on the programme in Paris.

The San Francisco Ballet, directed by Helgi Tomasson is of very high class. In Paris they are programming for 18 for exceptional performances, July 10 to 26 at the Théâtre du Châtelet the following:

3 ballets Helgi Tomasson: Chaconne for Piano and Two Dancers, The Fifth Season * Trio *
3 ballets by George Balanchine: Agon, Allegro Brillante, The Four Temperaments,
2 ballets of Jerome Robbins: Glass Pieces, In the Night,
2 ballets byAlexei Ratmansky: From Foreign Lands * Piano Concerto *

2 ballets by Christopher Wheeldon: Ghosts * Within the Golden Hour *

1 Ballet Edwaard Liang: Symphonic Dances *

1 Kenneth MacMillan ballet Concerto,
1 Ballet Mark Morris: Maelstrom,
1 Ballet Yuri Possokhov: Classical Symphony *
1 ballet by Liam Scarlett: a new creation – Hummingbird with music by Philip Glass *
1 Hans van Manen of ballet: Solo.

Furthermore at the opening galka a Pas des Trois by Johan Kobborg.*
        * first in France

Course of the company will be public, and movies will be offered an internship for professionals and semi-professionals (from 12 years) will be organized
.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please enjoy short presentation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gQNF50DsO0

Attend the following link for the detailed programme for each performance: http://www.lesetesdeladanse.com/edition-2014/les-ballets-presentes/les-oeuvres-de-la-tournee-parisienne-du-san-francisco-ballet/les-distributions-du-san-francisco-ballet/

LES ETES DE LA DANSE

Les Etés de la Danse is an annual dance festival that began in July 2005 with an extremely well received engagement of the San Francisco Ballet. Addressing the lack of major performing arts presentations during the summer in Paris, the festival brings the world’s greatest companies to enthusiastic audiences in the European capital of dance. Madame Jacques Chirac, former First Lady of France, is the Honorary President of the festival; Marina de Brantes, a leader of numerous artistic and humanitarian organizations, is the President of a prestigious Board composed of a number of prominent cultural, social, business and political figures
. Valery Colin, a former dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet, is the festival’s founder and director.

THE 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 purpose was to train dancers to appear in opera productions, but it separated from the opera in 1942 and was renamed San Francisco Ballet
. Headed by brothers Willam, Lew, and Harold Christensen from the late ’30s until the ’70s, it made its mark early on by staging the first full-length American productions of Swan Lake (1940) and Nutcracker (1944). 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 of an American ballet company in the Far East.

In 1972 the Company settled in the War Memorial Opera House for its annual residency. The following year, Michael Smuin was appointed associate artistic director; in 1981, his The Tempest was nominated for three Emmy Awards, and in 1984 Smuin received an Emmy Award for Choreography for the PBS national broadcast of A Song for Dead Warriors.

Helgi Tomasson’s arrival as artistic director in 1985 marked the beginning of a new era. Like Lew Christensen, Tomasson had been a leading dancer for the most important ballet choreographer of the 20th century, George Balanchine
. He has since staged acclaimed full-length productions of many classics, including Swan Lake (1988); The Sleeping Beauty (1990); Romeo & Juliet (1994); Giselle (1999); and a new Nutcracker (2004). In 1991, SF Ballet performed in New York City for the first time in 26 years, to broad critical acclaim. In May 1995, the Ballet played host to 12 ballet companies for
UNited We Dance: An International Festival, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter.

SF Ballet’s repertory includes works by George Balanchine, Lew Christensen, William Forsythe, Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Wayne McGregor, Mark Morris, Rudolf Nureyev, Marius Petipa, Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor, Christopher Wheeldon, Helgi Tomasson, of course, and many others. In recent years, the Company’s touring engagements have included the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; New York City Center; the Opéra de Paris-Palais Garnier in Paris; London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre and the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden; and Athens’ Megaron Theatre. In fall 2009, SF made its first trip to the People’s Republic of China, with performancesin Shanghai and Beijing.

In 2005, Tomasson was awarded the Lew Christensen Medal in honor of his 20th anniversary as artistic director of SF Ballet, and that year the Company won its first Laurence Olivier Award, for its 2004 fall season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. In 2008, San Francisco Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet School celebrated their 75th anniversary. In 2011, the United States premiere of John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, performed by SF Ballet, was broadcast internationally on PBS’s Great Performances “Dance in America.” In 2012, SF Ballet embarked on an ambitious tour that included engagements in London and Washington, D.C., as well as first-time visits to Hamburg, Moscow, and Sun Valley, Idaho. In fall 2013, SF Ballet returned to New York City for a two-week engagement at the David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center for a two week engagement, presenting eight New York premieres, including Christopher Wheeldon’s full-length production of Cinderella.

Check out the latest news about the companies on their facebook page ! https://www.facebook.com/sfballet

HELGI TOMASSON
Director of the San Francisco Ballet

Helgi Tomasson, now in his 29th season of artistic direction, has created SanFrancisco Ballet into a world-class company, praised for its diversity and broad repertory and also its excellent dancers.

Tomasson (born in 1942) was first discovered by Jerome Robbins in his native Iceland and was offered a dance scholarship to New York’s School of American Ballet. Subsequently, he began his professional career with The Joffrey Ballet, The Harkness Ballet, and later joined New York City Ballet, where he became one of the company’s most celebrated principal dancers (1970-1985).

In 2012, Tomasson was presented the Dance USA Honor Award for extraordinary leadership in the dance field, by reason of artistic excellence and force of vision. Tomasson has choreographed over 40 works, and his numerous awards include an honorary degree from New York’s Juilliard School and Officer in the French Order of Arts and Letters for contributing to further the arts in France. Tomasson was also awarded the Grand Cross Star of the Order of the Falcon, Iceland’s most prestigious honor.

In 1995, Tomasson conceived UNited WeDance: An International Festival produced in San Francisco to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter
. It included 12 international companies that presented new works by native choreographers. In 2008, he led the Company through its 75th anniversary season, which included a New Works Festival of 10 world premieres by 10 acclaimed choreographers.

The San Francisco Ballet School, overseen by Tomasson, attracts students from around the world, training approximately 350 annually. In addition to filling the ranks of San Francisco Ballet, graduates have gone on to join distinguished ballet companies throughout the world.