San Francisco Ballet - Pointes of View

Join Dance Educator Mary Wood as she discusses the intricacies of the makeup and costumes in Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein with the SF Ballet production staff and Principal Dancer Vitor Luiz.

Was Serenade really Balanchine’s first piece in America? And if not, how did that myth come to be? SF Ballet Visiting Scholar James Steichen presents on Balanchine’s early work and the pieces that preceded Serenade, adding a new dimension to our understanding of one of Balanchine’s most famous ballets.

Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson comments on the upcoming 85th Repertory Season, starting with an introduction to the Company’s new dancers. He describes what he looks for when hiring dancers and when promoting dancers from within the ranks. He offers an overview of the repertory, looking especially at the Robbins Centennial commemoration and his selection from Robbins' wide variety of works. Finally, he shares his passion for the Unbound: Festival of New Works, as well as a description of some of the challenges experienced in putting it together.

Ballet Master Betsy Erickson and Principal Dancers Sarah Van Patten and Tiit Helmets speak with dance educator Mary Wood on preparing to dance Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella©. What makes this ballet as thrilling for the artists to dance as it is for the audience to watch? 

Dance Educator Mary Wood and Rubén Martín Cintas, former principal dancer who is currently ballet school faculty and pas de deux teacher, discuss the art of pas de deux. San Francisco Ballet School Trainees demonstrate the intricacies of partnering. 

Contemporary music offers choreographers the chance to explore new sonic worlds and take audiences into new states of artistic consciousness. Musicologist Jim Stelchen and Music Director and Principal Conductor Martin West discuss the strategies that the conductor and musicians use to prepare music that many in the audience—and on stage—are hearing for the first time.