- Principal Character Dancer
Joanna Berman
Biography
Joanna Berman was born and raised in San Rafael, California, where she received her dance training under Maria Vegh and Margaret Swarthout at Marin Ballet. In 1984, after one year at San Francisco Ballet School, she joined the Company and was promoted to soloist in 1987. In 1988, Berman became a principal dancer, until her retirement in 2002. During her tenure, she danced the lead role in full-length ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Romeo and Juliet, in addition to numerous contemporary and classical works.
Berman had works created for her by choreographers including Mark Morris, Christopher Wheeldon, Val Caniparoli, Helgi Tomasson, David Bintley, Julia Adam, Christopher Stowell, Yuri Possokhov, and many others. In 1994 and 2000, she was the recipient of the Isadora Duncan Dance Award. In addition to her extensive performance credits, Joanna has staged works by Christopher Wheeldon, Val Caniparoli, Mark Morris, and Marius Petipa. She has served as a guest teacher and regisseur for San Francisco Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, Houston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Diablo Ballet, and The National Ballet of Canada.
Berman joined SF Ballet as a principal character dancer during the 2023–2024 Season.
Born
Vigo, Spain
Training
- Antonio Almenara
- Estudio de Danza de Maria Avila
San Francisco Ballet
- Joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2004
- Promoted to soloist in 2012
- Promoted to principal dancer in 2015
- Returned to the Company as a principal dancer in 2024
Other Companies
- Zurich Ballet
- BALANCHINE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia)
Agon (1st Pas de trois)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (1st movement Soloist, 3rd movement Principal)
Coppélia (Swanilda, Swanilda’s Friends, Jesterettes)
Diamonds
Divertimento No. 15 (3rd Solo)
Emeralds (Pas de trois)
The Four Temperaments (1st Theme and Melancholic Demi-soloist)
Rubies
Scotch Symphony (Scotch Girl, Principal)
Serenade (Angel)
Stars and Stripes (Finale)
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Symphony in C (1st movement Principal, 2nd movement Demi-soloist)
Symphony in Three Movements (1st movement)
Theme and Variations (Demi-soloist)
Who Cares?
Bournonville
La Sylphide (The Sylph)
Bintley
The Dance House
Bubeníček
Fragile Vessels (1st, 2nd, & 3rd movement Principal)
Caniparoli
Ibsen’s House (Rebecca West, Hedda Gabler)
Lambarena (Principal)
Cranko
Onegin (Olga)
Elo
Double Evil
Fokine
Petrouchka (Ballerina)
Forsythe
Artifact Suite
Blake Works I
Pas/Parts 2016 (originated)
The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude
Jenkins
Thread (originated)
Kobborg
Les Lutins (Principal)
Kudelka
The Ruins Proclaim The Building Was Beautiful
Liang
The Infinite Ocean (Principal)
Symphonic Dances
Lifar
Suite en Blanc (Pas de cinq, Sieste)
Lopez Ochoa
Guernica (originated)
Makarova after Petipa
La Bayadère, Act II (Solo Shade in “The Kingdom of the Shades”)
van Manen
Variations for Two Couples
Marston
Mrs. Robinson (originated Mrs. Robinson)
Snowblind (Mattie Silver)
McGregor
Borderlands
McIntyre
The Big Hunger (Principal)
de Mille
Rodeo
Millepied
Appassionata
Morris
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
Maelstrom
Sandpaper Ballet
Neumeier
The Little Mermaid (Henriette/The Princess, Bridesmaids)
Nureyev
Raymonda—Act III (2nd Solo, Pas de trois)
Page
Guide to Strange Places (Principal)
Peck
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (originated Principal)
In the Countenance of Kings (originated Quantus)
Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes (Principal Couple)
Pita
Björk Ballet (originated)
Salome (Salome)
Possokhov
Classical Symphony (Principal)
Diving into the Lilacs
Firebird (Princess)
Francesca da Rimini
Fusion (Principal)
Magrittomania (Principal)
The Rite of Spring (Principal)
Swimmer (Lolita)
Ratmansky
Le Carnaval des Animaux (Hen)
From Foreign Lands (Italian, Polish, Hungarian)
Seven Sonatas
Symphony #9 and Chamber Symphony in Shostakovich Trilogy
The Seasons (Frost, Hail)
Robbins
The Concert
Dances at a Gathering (Blue)
Glass Pieces (Soloist)
In the Night (1st Pas de deux)
Opus 19/The Dreamer (Principal Couple)
West Side Story Suite (Maria)
Rhoden
The Promised Land (originated Principal)
Rowe
For Pixie
Scarlett
Die Toteninsel (originated)
Fearful Symmetries (originated)
Frankenstein (Elizabeth Lavenza)
Hummingbird (Principal)
Taylor
Company B
Thatcher
Drum Roll, Please! (originated Principal)
Ghost in the Machine
In the Passerine’s Clutch
Manifesto (originated)
Tomasson
7 for Eight (Principal)
Criss-Cross (Principal)
Don Quixote (Kitri, Mercedes, Kitri’s Friends, Gitanos)
The Fifth Season (Principal)
Giselle (Myrtha, Solo Wilis, Peasant Pas de cinq)
Haffner Symphony (Soloist)
Meistens Mozart
Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Grand Pas de deux, Queen of the Snow, Maid, Ballerina Doll, Snowflakes, Spanish, Mirlitons, Flowers)
Prism
Romeo & Juliet (Juliet, Acrobats, Harlots)
The Sleeping Beauty (Fairy of Serenity, White Cat, Little Lilacs, Nymphs, Pas de six/Diamond Fairy, The Enchanted Princess/Bluebird Pas de deux)
Swan Lake (Act I Pas de trois, Aristocrats, Cygnets, Swan Maidens, Neapolitan, Russian Princess)
Trio (2nd movement Principal)
Wheeldon
Bound To (originated)
Carousel (A Dance)
Cinderella (Cinderella, Stepsister Clementine, Spirit of Spring/Lightness, Spanish Princess)
Continuum
Finale Finale (originated Principal)
Ghosts (Soloist)
Number Nine
Quarternary
Rush (Principal)
Within the Golden Hour (Principal)
Zanella
Underskin
- BALANCHINE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia)
Agon (1st Pas de trois)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (1st movement Soloist, 3rd movement Principal)
Coppélia (Swanilda, Swanilda’s Friends, Jesterettes)
Diamonds
Divertimento No. 15 (3rd Solo)
Emeralds (Pas de trois)
The Four Temperaments (1st Theme and Melancholic Demi-soloist)
Rubies
Scotch Symphony (Scotch Girl, Principal)
Serenade (Angel)
Stars and Stripes (Finale)
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Symphony in C (1st movement Principal, 2nd movement Demi-soloist)
Symphony in Three Movements (1st movement)
Theme and Variations (Demi-soloist)
Who Cares?
Bournonville
La Sylphide (The Sylph)
Bintley
The Dance House
Bubeníček
Fragile Vessels (1st, 2nd, & 3rd movement Principal)
Caniparoli
Ibsen’s House (Rebecca West, Hedda Gabler)
Lambarena (Principal)
Cranko
Onegin (Olga)
Elo
Double Evil
Fokine
Petrouchka (Ballerina)
Forsythe
Artifact Suite
Blake Works I
Pas/Parts 2016 (originated)
The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude
Jenkins
Thread (originated)
Kobborg
Les Lutins (Principal)
Kudelka
The Ruins Proclaim The Building Was Beautiful
Liang
The Infinite Ocean (Principal)
Symphonic Dances
Lifar
Suite en Blanc (Pas de cinq, Sieste)
Lopez Ochoa
Guernica (originated)
Makarova after Petipa
La Bayadère, Act II (Solo Shade in “The Kingdom of the Shades”)
van Manen
Variations for Two Couples
Marston
Mrs. Robinson (originated Mrs. Robinson)
Snowblind (Mattie Silver)
McGregor
Borderlands
McIntyre
The Big Hunger (Principal)
de Mille
Rodeo
Millepied
Appassionata
Morris
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
Maelstrom
Sandpaper Ballet
Neumeier
The Little Mermaid (Henriette/The Princess, Bridesmaids)
Nureyev
Raymonda—Act III (2nd Solo, Pas de trois)
Page
Guide to Strange Places (Principal)
Peck
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (originated Principal)
In the Countenance of Kings (originated Quantus)
Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes (Principal Couple)
Pita
Björk Ballet (originated)
Salome (Salome)
Possokhov
Classical Symphony (Principal)
Diving into the Lilacs
Firebird (Princess)
Francesca da Rimini
Fusion (Principal)
Magrittomania (Principal)
The Rite of Spring (Principal)
Swimmer (Lolita)
Ratmansky
Le Carnaval des Animaux (Hen)
From Foreign Lands (Italian, Polish, Hungarian)
Seven Sonatas
Symphony #9 and Chamber Symphony in Shostakovich Trilogy
The Seasons (Frost, Hail)
Robbins
The Concert
Dances at a Gathering (Blue)
Glass Pieces (Soloist)
In the Night (1st Pas de deux)
Opus 19/The Dreamer (Principal Couple)
West Side Story Suite (Maria)
Rhoden
The Promised Land (originated Principal)
Rowe
For Pixie
Scarlett
Die Toteninsel (originated)
Fearful Symmetries (originated)
Frankenstein (Elizabeth Lavenza)
Hummingbird (Principal)
Taylor
Company B
Thatcher
Drum Roll, Please! (originated Principal)
Ghost in the Machine
In the Passerine’s Clutch
Manifesto (originated)
Tomasson
7 for Eight (Principal)
Criss-Cross (Principal)
Don Quixote (Kitri, Mercedes, Kitri’s Friends, Gitanos)
The Fifth Season (Principal)
Giselle (Myrtha, Solo Wilis, Peasant Pas de cinq)
Haffner Symphony (Soloist)
Meistens Mozart
Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Grand Pas de deux, Queen of the Snow, Maid, Ballerina Doll, Snowflakes, Spanish, Mirlitons, Flowers)
Prism
Romeo & Juliet (Juliet, Acrobats, Harlots)
The Sleeping Beauty (Fairy of Serenity, White Cat, Little Lilacs, Nymphs, Pas de six/Diamond Fairy, The Enchanted Princess/Bluebird Pas de deux)
Swan Lake (Act I Pas de trois, Aristocrats, Cygnets, Swan Maidens, Neapolitan, Russian Princess)
Trio (2nd movement Principal)
Wheeldon
Bound To (originated)
Carousel (A Dance)
Cinderella (Cinderella, Stepsister Clementine, Spirit of Spring/Lightness, Spanish Princess)
Continuum
Finale Finale (originated Principal)
Ghosts (Soloist)
Number Nine
Quarternary
Rush (Principal)
Within the Golden Hour (Principal)
Zanella
Underskin
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