Feature Stories

Iceland's President Honors Helgi Tomasson

In May, San Francisco Ballet dancers, crew, and staff toured to Reykjavik, Iceland, to participate in the annual Reykjavik Arts Festival. The Company staged five performances, from Wednesday, May 16, through Sunday, May 20, presenting a program of works by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson that included Blue Rose, 7 for Eight, Concerto Grosso, and The Fifth Season.

On May 14, the Company was invited  to visit President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and his wife, Dorrit Moussaieff, at the official presidential residence. During a special ceremony, the President presented Tomasson with the Order of the Falcon at the Highest Order, Iceland's highest honor and one that is usually reserved for heads of state. The only other artist to have received this honor in the country's history is Halldor Kiljan Laxness, the 1955 Nobel Laureate in Literature. President Grimsson noted that Tomasson was being presented with the honor in light of  his "genius, his artistry—as a dancer, and as director of San Francisco Ballet.” After accepting the royal ribbon and medal from the President, Tomasson briefly addressed the audience in Icelandic, with his wife, Marlene, and sons Kris and Erik by his side.

			Helgi Tomasson Receives Medal from Iceland's President © Erik Tomasson

Also in attendance during the ceremony were representatives from the Reykjavik Arts Festival, members of the Icelandic arts community, festival sponsors, government officials, members of the press, and honored guests, including three women who took ballet class with Tomasson when he was a young boy. During his remarks, President Grimsson told the group that in the history of Iceland there have been only three artists who reached the very top of their professions—Halldor Kiljan Laxness, pop vocalist Björk, and, of course, Tomasson. The President also included a tribute to the late Ken Rainin, former trustee and supporter of San Francisco Ballet and the work of Helgi Tomasson. President Grimsson noted that Rainin, who died in May, was a close personal friend of his and his wife's and that he will be missed.

Following a champagne reception at the Presidential residence, the Company departed for a dinner hosted by the Reykjavik Arts Festival in honor of San Francisco Ballet at an elegant nearby restaurant. During San Francisco Ballet's tour to Iceland, Tomasson was further honored with an exhibit—curated by his brother, Gudjon Hauksson—in the lobby of Reykjavik's Borgarleikhus City Theater that presented photographs and video tracing his life as a professional dancer.

Top: Helgi Tomasson shows the medal Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson bestowed upon him. © Erik Tomasson