San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1933. It began as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The ballet company is currently based in War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California. The company is actually the first professional ballet company in the US. The company is currently under the direction of Helgi Tomasson and has a handful of principal dancers, soloists, Corps de Ballet, and apprentices.
The company has produced several major productions, the first of which is the CoppÈlia which was also the companyís first complete production ever in the US; it debuted in 1938. Other major productions include Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Sylvia, Swan Lake, and La Fille Mal GardÈe. The Nutcracker is also produced annually since it was first played in 1944.
In 2008, in celebration of the ballet companyís 75th anniversary, a national tour was organized through four major US cities ñ Chicago, New York City, Costa Mesa (California), and Washington, D.C.