On America’s first full-length Swan Lake Visiting Scholar Debra H. Sowell, PhD, offers a lively description of America’s first full-length Swan Lake, produced by the San Francisco Ballet in 1940, and choreographed by Artistic Director, Willam Christensen. She begins by describing the role of a dance historian, and references the interviews she conducted in preparing her book The Christensen Brothers, An American Dance Epic, the definitive biography of the three brothers, Willam, Harold, and Lew. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts to access archived ..read more

On America’s first full-length Swan Lake Visiting Scholar Debra H. Sowell, PhD, offers a lively description of America’s first full-length Swan Lake, produced by the San Francisco Ballet in 1940, and choreographed by Artistic Director, Willam Christensen. She begins by describing the role of a dance historian, and references the interviews she conducted in preparing her book The Christensen Brothers, An American Dance Epic, the definitive biography of the three brothers, Willam, Harold, and Lew. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts to access archived ..read more

On Performing Odette and Odile Frances Chung, who performs the iconic role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake for the first time this season, discusses the principal parts that have led her to this point in her career. She describes her preparation for this role, including studying portrayals of past ballerinas, the coaching she has received, and even the time she spent in the corps absorbing the essence of the story. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts to access archived episodes and have new ones delivered straight to your devices! Helgi Tomasson’s Swan ..read more

On Sword Fighting, Fencing, and Performing in Romeo & Juliet Fight Director Martino (Marty) Pistone describes the creation of the sword fights and other stage combat in Helgi Tomasson’s Romeo and Juliet. He discusses the styles of fencing and the weapons used, as well as the process of teaching dancers the fight choreography. He also discusses working with the dancers for the crowd scenes during the fights, and his performing role as the Prince of Verona. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts to access archived episodes and have new ones delivered ..read more

On his love for Don Quixote and classical ballet ..read more

Former SFB Principal Dancer on Teaching, Training, and Balanchine’s Rubies In her current role as a member of the faculty at San Francisco Ballet School, former SF Ballet principal dancer Tina LeBlanc talks about what’s important to her as a teacher. She discusses the benefits of ballet training, how to motivate young dancers, the use of imagery, and how a “good” dancer becomes “great.” LeBlanc also reflects on her own retirement from the stage and comments on her work as a ballet mistress for Balanchine’s Rubies. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts ..read more

Balanchine and Prokofiev from the Principal Bassoon Player’s Perspective Rufus Olivier, Principal Bassoon Player in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, reminisces engagingly about his nearly 40 years with the Orchestra. He describes Program 04—the “Must-See Balanchine” works—as a “dream” for the bassoon, with featured parts in Stravinsky Violin Concerto, the Prokofiev accompanying Prodigal Son, as well as the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 29, which accompanies Diamonds. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts or Google Play to access archive ..read more

On the New Ballet Swimmer Dance Educator Mary Wood interviews Resident Choreographer Yuri Possokhov and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Member and Composer Shinji Eshima about the making of Possokhov’s new ballet Swimmer. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts to access archived episodes and have new ones delivered straight to your devices! Possokhov’s Swimmer is part of SF Ballet’s 2021 Digital Season, streaming March 4–24. Purchase single stream access Header Image: San Francisco Ballet in Possokhov’s Swimmer // © Erik Tomasson ..read more

On His Path to SF Ballet and His Life During Shelter-in-Place In this series profiling recently promoted dancers, Lucas Erni discusses his path to SF Ballet and shares reflections on his time spent in quarantine. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts to access archived episodes and have new ones delivered straight to your devices! Header Image: San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson’s Concerto Grosso // © Erik Tomasson ..read more

On Starting Worldwide Ballet Class and His Life During Shelter-in-Place In this series profiling recently promoted dancers, Diego Cruz shares about his career and starting Worldwide Ballet Class during Covid-19. Like what you heard? Subscribe to our Meet the Artist podcast on Apple Podcasts to access archived episodes and have new ones delivered straight to your devices! Header Image: Diego Cruz in company class // © Erik Tomasson ..read more