Farewell to Val Caniparoli

After 53 Years Caniparoli Is Stepping Away from the Stage

After 53 years with the Company, Val Caniparoli will step away from our stage to continue his focus on full-time choreography. He came to SF Ballet in 1972 after receiving a Ford Foundation Scholarship to attend SF Ballet School and soon joined the company under the co-artistic directorship of Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin, where he was later named a Resident Choreographer. Under Helgi Tomasson he was appointed Principal Character Dancer and Rehearsal Assistant and has continued to create and perform as a Principal Character Dancer under the leadership of Tamara Rojo. In 2023, he celebrated his 50th Season as a full-time artist with the company.

Val has created an astonishing 24 ballets in his 53 years with SF Ballet. As he turns his focus to choreography full-time, he is creating Goat Rodeo, a world premiere for Richmond Ballet this spring, as well as the world premiere of his full-length Dr. Coppélius in March 2027 to celebrate The National Ballet of Canada’s 75th Anniversary season.

Join us in celebrating Val’s remarkable career.

Val Caniparoli was born in Renton, Washington, and studied music and theater at Washington State University (1969–1971). He took his first ballet class at the age of 19 and shortly thereafter was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to attend San Francisco Ballet School (1971–1972). At the same time, he began performing professionally with the San Francisco Opera Ballet. In 1973, he was invited to join the San Francisco Ballet under Co-Artistic Directors Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. He continued in that role as a full-time AGMA member through 2023, working under the Artistic Directorships of Helgi Tomasson and Tamara Rojo, as well as dancing in ballets coached by the previous Artistic Director, Willam Christensen.

From 1973–2025, Caniparoli performed leading roles by world-renowned choreographers including Jerome Robbins, Jiri Kylian, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Maurice Bejart, Lew Christensen, Paul Taylor, Michael Smuin, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, Arthur Pita, Yuri Possokhov, Brenda Way, and many others. Caniparoli has created 24 works for San Francisco Ballet, including such internationally acclaimed works as Lambarena, Ibsen’s House, Connotations, Aria, Foreshadow, Slow, Double Stop, Hamlet & Ophelia, and Pulcinella.

Val Caniparoli is considered one of the most globally acclaimed American-born contemporary choreographers. As of 2025, he is credited with having created over 150 works for over 60 Dance Companies, including Joffrey Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Scottish Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Kansas City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet West (resident choreographer 1993-97), Washington Ballet, Israel Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Singapore Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, State Theatre Ballet of South Africa, Alberta Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet (resident choreographer 2001-06). His choreography and direction for theater, most notably San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater under the direction of Carey Perloff, include A Doll’s House, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Tosca Café, Arcadia, A Christmas Carol, and A Little Night Music; choreography for three of the nation’s top Opera Companies; The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Chicago Lyric Opera; choreography for The San Francisco Symphony; and work for film and television, including co-choreographing, along with Helgi Tomasson, the 50th anniversary Super Bowl commercial in 2015 with dancers from San Francisco Ballet.

Other career highlights include:

Appointed a Resident Choreographer under the Co-Artistic Directorships of Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin, as documented in the San Francisco Ballet 50th Anniversary book; The First Fifty Years by Cobbett Steinberg (1980’s)

Appointed Rehearsal Assistant under Helgi Tomasson: 1985

Appointed Principal Character Dancer under Helgi Tomasson: 1985

Honors: 2025 Ballet West Guild Arts Legend Award, 2024 Richmond Ballet Lifetime Achievement Award

Awards during his SF Ballet Tenure (1972–2025): Two Choo-San Goh & Robert H. Magee Foundation Awards (1997, Open Veins, Atlanta Ballet; 1994, San Francisco Ballet, Lambarena); Ten Choreographers’ Fellowship Awards, National Endowment for the Arts (1981–1988; 1991–1992); Three Isadora Duncan Awards: Aubade Oakland Ballet (1987), Sustained Achievement Award (1997) & Death of a Moth (2001, San Francisco Ballet); Artist Fellowship; California Arts Council (1991); Nominated for the Best Choreography Award, Benois De La Danse for Lambarena, Pacific Northwest Ballet (1997); Recipient of the 19th Annual Hong Kong Dance Award for Lady of the Camellias, “Outstanding Large Venue Production,” “Outstanding Ensemble Performance” (2016, Hong Kong Ballet); Pointe Magazine 2024 Readers’ Choice Award for Jekyll & Hyde (Ballet West); Pointe Magazine 2025 Readers’ Choice Award for Double Stop (Boulder Ballet).

San Francisco Ballet School Choreography: Street Songs was Caniparoli’s first professional creation and was commissioned by Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1980. Helgi Tomasson then chose Street Songs to represent the San Francisco Ballet School at the prestigious “La Baule Danse” in Paris in 1992. Other works for San Francisco Ballet School include Violin and Stolen Moments.

Lambarena: Created in 1995, this ballet was an unprecedented, groundbreaking work done in collaboration with African Dance Consultants Dr. Zakarya Diouf and Naomi Johnson-Diouf to help Caniparoli fuse authentic African Dance with Classical Ballet to a mix of Johann Sebastian Bach and Traditional African music. Lambarena became an international hit with multiple outreach and educational programs designed around the ballet. Lambarena is now in the repertory of more than 25 companies on four continents and has been performed by some of the most acclaimed dancers internationally. Caniparoli’s often-cited quote regarding his process, “Dance is for everyone. By sharing cultures through music and dance, and learning from each other, we have more in common than we think,” underscores the importance of this and other collaborations that dance a language of global understanding.” Lambarena was featured on Sesame Street with sisters Lorena Feijoo and Lorna Feijoo and was nominated for the prestigious Best Choreography Award, Benois De La Danse for Lambarena, Pacific Northwest Ballet (1997)

Guest Artist: Caniparoli was a guest artist at Pacific Northwest Ballet, performing in several ballets, including Filling Station, Jinx, and La Valse, as well as performing with Maurice Bejart’s Ballet of the 20th Century in the early 1970’s, while it was on tour at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House.

Jekyll & Hyde: Caniparoli conceived and choreographed Jekyll & Hyde for the Finnish National Ballet. It became the only original full-length evening ballet to be produced and performed live during the global pandemic. It has since been added to the repertoires of 4 other dance companies (Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet West, Kansas City Ballet, Colorado Ballet). The story of the making of Jekyll & Hyde was featured in a full-page article in the NY Times.

The Nutcracker: Since 2001, Caniparoli has produced five unique, critically acclaimed productions of The Nutcracker for Cincinnati Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Tulsa Ballet (Co-created with Ma Cong), Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Gallery

Val Caniparoli in Smuin's Scherzo // © Rudy L, courtesy of Val Caniparoli

Lew Christensen in rehearsal with Val Caniparoli, Don Schwennesen, and a female dancer for his Nutcracker, circa 1970s // © Courtesy of the Robert McLeod Photography Collection, Museum of Performance + Design, San Francisco

Val Caniparoli in Christensen's Jinx // © William Acheson, courtesy of SFMPD

Deborah Zdobinski and Val Caniparoli in Bolender's Souvenirs // © Marty Sohl, © Marty Sohl, photo courtesy SFMPD.

Val Caniparoli in North's Troy Game, 1984 // © Marty Sohl, courtesy of SFMPD

Anita Paciotti and Val Caniparoli in Christensen's Nutcracker, 1980 // © Gary Sinick, courtesy of SFMPD

Val Caniparoli in Lew Christensen's Nutcracker // © Mike Maloney, courtesy of Val Caniparoli

Betsy Erikson and Val Caniparoli in Christensen's Vivaldi Concerto Grosso // © Marty Sohl, photo courtesy SFMPD

Val Caniparoli in Smuin's Romeo & Juliet // Courtesy of Val Caniparoli

San Francisco Ballet's Resident Choreographers: John McFall, Lew Christensen, Michael Smuin, Robert Gladstein, Tomm Ruud, and Val Caniparoli, circa 1982 // Photo courtesy of MPDSF