Bay Area IMPACT
AN OPEN INVITATION TO THE BAY AREA
San Francisco Ballet is woven into the rhythm of the city itself, an expression of its innovation and drive to create. We mirror San Francisco’s energy onstage while carrying its imagination into classrooms, community centers, and public spaces across the Bay Area. San Francisco Ballet’s education and engagement programs provide opportunities to experience the joy, creativity, and connection of the performing arts.
Our community programs create spaces where dance fosters belonging, wellbeing, and cultural connection, offering tens of thousands of students, families, and neighbors meaningful opportunities to be inspired, uplifted, and united through the arts.
Commitment to community
Connecting through dance
Dance is for everybody. From Boys & Girls Clubs to neighborhood senior centers, we bring high-quality programming into the community, partnering with K-12 schools, museums, and local organizations. Our programs inspire connection, creativity, and confidence through dance, empowering each participant to unleash their inherent wisdom, playful body, and creative soul.
Equity through access
Access is the foundation of impact. By offering free and low-cost performances, residencies, workshops, and artist interactions, we remove barriers to participation and ensure ballet is accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds across the Bay Area. Each year, San Francisco Ballet sparks curiosity and confidence in thousands of students through hands-on programs that reveal dance as both an artistic discipline and a tool for self-expression.
Engaging the next generation
The future of the art form depends on young voices. Each year, San Francisco Ballet provides scholarships to approximately 100 elementary students to train at San Francisco Ballet School through The Swanson Community Scholarship Program, providing young students with free access to world-class ballet training. By removing barriers and fostering talent, the program helps build the next generation of artists.
© Video by RJ Muna
Opening Doors
The Swanson Community Scholarship Program gives talented young dancers access to world class training.
Community by the numbers
2,500+ STUDENTS ENGAGED ANNUALLY
For over 45 years, San Francisco Ballet has provided free dance education residencies in public schools in San Francisco Unified School District, providing access to weekly dance classes for school children and professional development for teachers through our Dance in Schools and Communities program.
50+ PARTNER SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
We collaborate with public schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, libraries, senior centers, and other organizations across the region to bring dance directly into the community, tailoring programming to meet unique needs and create lasting impact.
10,000+ YOUTH ENGAGED ANNUALLY
Each year we reach thousands of children and teens through family workshops, field trips, student matinee performances, in-school dance residencies with SFUSD, dance camps with Boys & Girls Clubs, and other public programs that create memorable experiences for young audiences to experience the transformative power of the arts.
130+ CLASSES FOR PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S ANNUALLY
Movement is medicine. We offer free weekly dance classes for people with Parkinson’s and other movement disabilities in our studios, on zoom, and throughout our communities.
2,400+ PATRONS ATTEND A SENSORY FRIENDLY PERFORMANCE
In partnership with Autism Society, our annual Sensory Friendly Performance offers an inclusive, welcoming, and relaxed performance for neurodiverse audiences to experience the magic of Nutcracker.
50,000+ COMMUNITY MEMBERS ENGAGED ANNUALLY
Through our education and engagement programs for children, teens, families, adult lifelong learners, neurodiverse audiences, and patrons, San Francisco Ballet reaches tens of thousands community members across the Bay Area, sparking creativity and deepening appreciation for the arts.
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Field Trips & School Programs
San Francsico Ballet’s education programs provide opportunities for Bay Area Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade students to participate in the performing arts through educational experiences that foster artistic expression, ignite creativity, and invite exploration through the arts. From field trips and in-school dance residencies, our standards-based education programs expose students to the transformative power of dance.
Audience Programs
Step inside the creative process with conversations, lectures, and events that bring choreographers, dancers, musicians, and artistic voices directly to the audience. From pre-performance talks with artists to backstage tours of the Opera House, our programs for audience members offer rare insight into the works onstage.
FAMILY & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
San Francisco Ballet opens the world of dance to children, teens, families, and adult lifelong learners through programs that inspire imagination and creativity. Our events, programs, and partnerships are designed to connect community members with the art form, artists, and productions by bringing ballet beyond the stage.
SENSORY FRIENDLY & ADAPTIVE PROGRAMS
San Francisco Ballet is committed to making dance accessible to everyone. Our sensory friendly and adaptive programs are designed for community members of all ages and abilities to engage with the art form of dance. Designed in collaboration with our community partners, we invite community members to join us for our dance classes for people with Parkinson’s and other movement disabilities, sensory friendly performance, and other programs for guests of all abilities to experience the joy, beauty, and connection of ballet.