- Principal Character Dancer
Val Caniparoli
Biography
Born in Renton, Washington, Caniparoli opted for a professional dance career after studying music and theatre at Washington State University. He received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to attend San Francisco Ballet School and performed with San Francisco Opera Ballet before joining San Francisco Ballet in 1973. Throughout his career, Caniparoli has created more than 200 works for ballet, theater, opera, symphony, film, and television. In addition to his longstanding association with SF Ballet, for whom he has created more than 20 ballets, more than 60 dance companies have presented his work, including Finnish National Ballet, BalletMet, Joffrey Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Ballet West (resident choreographer 1993-97), Washington Ballet, Israel Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet (resident choreographer 2001-06). One of his most popular ballets, Lambarena, was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse in 1997 for Best Choreography and was also featured on Sesame Street.
The Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and San Francisco Opera have all commissioned Caniparoli to choreograph operas. His work with the San Francisco Symphony includes the Rimsky-Korsakov opera-ballet Mlada, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. With American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), he choreographed A Christmas Carol, A Doll’s House, Arcadia, A Little Night Music, and Tosca Cafe, a new movement-theatre piece with Carey Perloff. His full evening-length ballets include Lady of the Camellias, five different productions of The Nutcracker for Royal New Zealand Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet (co-created with Ma Cong), Val Caniparoli’s, A Cinderella Story.
He is a recipient of ten grants for choreography from the National Endowment for the Arts, an artist fellowship from the California Arts Council and has twice received the Choo-San Goh Award from the Choo-San Goh and H. Robert Magee Foundation for Lambarena, and Open Veins. Dance Bay Area honored Caniparoli with an Isadora Duncan Award for Sustained Achievement and twice for Outstanding Choreography. He was also honored to have been selected to choreograph a pas de deux for Evelyn Hart and Rex Harrington. This was for the Royal Jubilee Gala for Queen Elizabeth in Toronto.
Caniparoli is most closely associated with San Francisco Ballet, his artistic home for over 50 years. He first worked under the co-artistic directorship of Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin, and in the early 1980s, was appointed resident choreographer as well as Rehearsal Director under Helgi Tomasson. He continues to choreograph for the company under Artistic Director Tamara Rojo while continuing to be a Principal Character Dancer.
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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