Q&A With Summer Session Guest Teachers

Meet Evelyn Cisneros and Myrna Kamara

Evelyn Cisneros and Myrna Kamara were the 2025 guest teachers for San Francisco Ballet School’s Summer Session. We asked them a series of questions to get to know them better.

Evelyn Cisneros

As an alum of both SFB School and Company, Evelyn Cisneros has a special place in her heart for this organization. Cisneros was a dancer with San Francisco Ballet for 23 years performing work by George Balanchine, Helgi Tomasson, Michael Smuin, Val Caniparoli and many others. She had plenty of wisdom to share with our summer students.

What is your favorite part of summer in San Francisco?

Over the thirty years I lived in the city I both loved and hated the cold, overcast, foggy, and windy summers; they were both a beautiful relief from hot summer days and frustrating when I longed for warmer days.

What is the most memorable moment of your career?

As you might imagine, there were many glorious moments in my 23-year career with my beloved San Francisco Ballet. One came when performing my first principal role in A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin), standing on stage and receiving a huge bouquet of Sterling roses as the audience was giving us a standing ovation. Performing roles and ballets such as Juliet, Odette/Odile, Aurora, Lise in La Fille Mal Gardée (Sir Frederik Ashton), Confidencias (Helgi Tomasson), Ballerina in Theme and Variations (George Balanchine), In the Night (Jerome Robbins), Forgotten Land (Jiří Kylián), and Lambarena (Val Caniparoli) were all magical moments never to be forgotten. My farewell performance was magical, a whole evening where I was able to dance with my husband in Balanchine’s Rubies, my gift from Helgi the solo Confidencias, mixed in with excerpts from the KQED special: Evelyn Cisneros, Moving On, finishing with The Sleeping Beauty Act III. This was a dream of a farewell to my beautiful art that I still love passionately.

What is your connection to San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School?

Just as children leave home when the time is right, I moved on from SF Ballet but it will always be deeply rooted in my heart. I grew up here and realized my ballet dreams and a career beyond all my expectations. I am now the Academy Director at Ballet West. The founding director was the third Christensen brother Willam, so I have been able to work with all three Christensen brothers, Lew, Harold and now in Willam’s Ballet West. It feels like I have come full circle.

What is one piece of advice that you would like to give to our Summer Session students?

Seize this time as an opportunity to learn, grow, and experience your love of dance with other like-minded students. Make friends that may be with you through life, listen to your teachers, be a sponge absorbing information given to you and your friends. Seize your dream and never allow anyone to take away your love of dance, it is yours, forever.

If you could see one program from San Francisco Ballet’s 2025-26 season, what would it be and why?

This is a strong season, and it would be hard to choose, but I think it would be Yuri’s Onegin [Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov’s new production of Eugene Onegin]. I had the opportunity to dance in the company with him; he is an extraordinarily talented choreographer and I would like to see his current vision for the stage.

Myrna Kamara

Myrna Kamara has had a long and successful career dancing with New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Germany’s Bonn Ballet, and others. She continues to perform with her company balletXtreme in Switzerland and teach students all over the world.

What is your favorite part of summer in San Francisco?

I like the part of summer where you can go and appreciate more of the outdoor festivals, sites, and parks.

What is the most memorable moment of your career?

The most memorable part of my career was performing when I was a principal dancer at Miami City Ballet. Prodigal Son’s Siren (George Balanchine), the Fileuse solo of Emeralds (Balanchine), and the Lead Russian Girl in Serenade (Balanchine) were favorites.

What is your connection to San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School?

My connection to SFB is that I was invited back in 2018 to guest teach at the school by Patrick Armand. I then met Grace Holmes at the Prix de Lausanne, where I was a warm-up coach, and she invited me again to teach.

What is one piece of advice that you would like to give to our Summer Session students?

My advice to the Summer Session students is to look, learn, and listen carefully to obtain as much knowledge as possible. If you need to ask questions when you do not understand, do not be afraid. It can be of great value to yourself and others around you.

If you could see one program from San Francisco Ballet’s 2025-26 season, what would it be and why?

I would definitely choose to see the Balanchine mixed bill [Balanchine: Father of American Ballet] because that’s where I come from, but I rarely get to see it from where I am living today.