CREATION HOUSE
A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CREATIVE INCUBATOR
Welcome to Creation House, an original initiative offering SF Ballet company members, SF Ballet School students, and guest artists an expansive portfolio of choreographic opportunities.
Launched in 2023 under Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, the program is dedicated to research, creation, and talent development, and provides a ladder of opportunity through the school, company, and beyond. With space and time for creative exploration and mentorship, five strands of activity illustrate SF Ballet’s commitment to innovation, nurturing upcoming talent, and connecting artists.
The strands of activity within Creation House are:
Choreographic Residencies
Choreographic Residencies are dedicated to supporting the creation of bold, new, contemporary works by established international choreographers who are commissioned by SF Ballet. These residencies offer focused studio time built into the company’s schedule to explore, experiment, and develop the concept of a work before embarking on the formal creation process.
Where relevant, this developmental phase also fosters dialogue with collaborators from other disciplines (like music, production design, and costume design), allowing space for creatives to find shared language and entry points to the work.
Choreographer Aszure Barton and the creative team for Mere Mortals, which opened the 2024 Season, were the first to hold a Choreographic Residency with the company.
CREATION HOUSE ASSOCIATE CHOREOGRAPHER
New to the initiative is the multi-year Creation House Associate Choreographer program, which has been awarded to SF Ballet Soloist Myles Thatcher in 2025 as its inaugural recipient. Thatcher began creating new work as a Trainee at SF Ballet School and has since gone on to create works for the School, SF Ballet’s Repertory Season (most recently 2023’s COLORFORMS), The Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, and more over the past 15 years. The new role will offer sustained mentorship, training, external choreographic observations, and commissioning opportunities.
The Choreographic Exchange and Physical Play workshops
Choreographic Exchange sessions make space for visiting international choreographers to lead informal discussions about their creative practice and career with company dancers who have an interest in choreography. This opportunity is offered to budding choreographers at SF Ballet School, ODC/Dance artists, and composers at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a passion for dance composition.
An extension of the Choreographic Exchange sessions, Physical Play Workshops are led by visiting international artists. Providing exercises and tasks to examine alternative approaches to making dance, choreographers and participating artists can play and explore new ideas together without the pressure of producing a finished result.
Creation House has engaged with several visiting artists through this strand: Aszure Barton, Crystal Costa (Stager for Akram Khan’s Dust), James Gregg, Sandy Jennings, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Arielle Smith, Antonie Vereecken (Stager for Wayne McGregor’s Chroma), and Edward Watson.
I truly enjoyed these conversations and learned a lot from them. It was interesting and inspiring to hear the personal stories of these fantastic choreographers who have excelled in the field.
– SF Ballet company dancer and participant of the Choreographic Exchange conversations
I came out of each session wanting to dance even more! It was refreshing to be in a space where I could freely explore my abilities.
– SF Ballet company dancer and participant of the Physical Play workshops
ChoreoLabs
ChoreoLabs is a research and development platform designed for early-career choreographers both within the company and from across the discipline, grounded in an explorative and research-led practice. Scheduled during the company’s summer break, ChoreoLabs offers emerging choreographers studio space, dancers (a combination of those from the company, ODC/Dance, and freelance artists), and time to trial fresh choreographic ideas, providing an opportunity to gain the experience needed for future commissions.
The SF Ballet School Choreographic Program
The SF Ballet School Choreographic Program is a commitment to encouraging and developing the skills of young choreographers. Starting in Year 7 and up to the Trainee level, the goal of the program is for students to have had the opportunity to choreograph and have new work made on them by their peers, company members, and professional artists by the time they finish their training at SF Ballet School.
To be able to listen to Tamara and Kerry’s perspectives, get their feedback, advice, mentoring, and to hear about their own experiences, is invaluable.
– Pemberley Olson, corps de ballet dancer with the company and recipient of the first Creation House commission to choreograph on the school students.
