SF Ballet Announces 2020 Season Including Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, & World Premieres

Photo Credit: © Erik Tomasson

With just two programs left—The Little Mermaid and Shostakovich Trilogy—San Francisco Ballet’s 2019 repertory season is, sadly, coming to a quick close. However, ballet lovers have plenty to look forward to as artistic director Helgi Tomasson has just announced the lineup for next year.

Photo Credit: © Erik Tomasson

It will be Tomasson’s 34th season overseeing the ballet, and like every year, it will feature what he’s become known for—a mixture of classic story ballets and contemporary world premieres. Choreographers Cathy Marston and Trey McIntyre, both of whom created well-regarded new pieces for 2018’s Unbound Festival—will debut new dances. The dancers will also perform the West Coast premiere of The Seasons, a piece by Alexei Ratmansky that was co-commissioned with New York’s American Ballet Theater.

Photo Credit: © Erik Tomasson

As for the story ballets, Tomasson is bringing back A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo & Juliet. Cinderella, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, will open the season on January 21. Other works that will be performed throughout the spring include Mark Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet, Liam Scarlett’s Hummingbird, Harald Lander’s Etudes, Benjamin Millepied’s Appassionata, and many others.

Photo Credit: © Erik Tomasson

“This incredible company of artists will take us on a thrilling journey of dance experiences in 2020,” Tomasson said in the announcement. “I look forward to seeing the new works Cathy and Trey will create here as well as Alexei’s new work that we’ve co-commissioned. In addition, I cannot wait to bring back Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which we have not performed since my earliest days with the company. Dance has such power to explore spectrums of human emotional, psychological, and physical being. The breadth of what’s on stage next season, from essential classics to modern choreography, from magical details to virtuosic displays, means there will be something for everyone to connect with. It will be a joy to once again share the transformational power of dance with our city.”

Photo Credit: © Erik Tomasson

After the 2019 season concludes in early May, the dancers will take off for a whirlwind tour. They will perform four programs at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre May 20 through June 8, 2019, and then head to Sun Valley to participate in Ballet Sun Valley July 5 and 7, 2019. In the fall, they will dance Romeo & Juliet at the Royal Danish Opera House in Copenhagen. Finally, they’ll end the year with a bang: the 75th anniversary of Nutcracker which first premiered in the U.S. in San Francisco on Christmas Eve, 1944.