Leadership
Our leadership team
Our artistic staff work closely with Artistic Director Tamara Rojo to uphold the Company’s legacy while fostering innovation, collaboration, and world-class artistry. From teaching Company class and coaching the dancers, to staging iconic classics and working directly with choreographers to support the development of new works, this team ensures each production reflects the highest standards of excellence that define San Francisco Ballet.
Tamara Rojo
Artistic director
Tamara Rojo is a celebrated leader and principal dancer who was appointed Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet in December 2022. Previously, she served as
Artistic Director and Lead Principal of London’s English National Ballet (ENB) for ten and a half years, where she implemented groundbreaking programming and garnered the company accolades.
Rojo has a depth of experience through her 30-year career. Prior to her directorship at ENB, she was principal dancer of The Royal Ballet. Her acclaimed dance repertoire includes lead roles in all full-length ballet classics, as well as works by Balanchine, Robbins, Ashton, and MacMillan.
She has received numerous awards, including the Olivier Award for Best Achievement in Dance for ENB’s repertoire in 2017 and the Principe de Asturias Award in 2005. In 2016, she was made a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to dance. Rojo is also a 2021 Dance Magazine Award honoree.
Branislav Henselmann
Executive director
Branislav Henselmann joined SF Ballet as Executive Director in 2024 after serving as Managing Director of Vancouver’s Cultural Services department, where he oversaw research, development, and implementation of long-range arts and culture policy, and led the city’s efforts related to cultural granting, public art, and cultural redress; under his leadership, the City of Vancouver Council unanimously adopted a 10-year cultural plan increasing support for the sector and investing in community-led cultural infrastructure.
Prior to his appointment in Vancouver, he joined Ballet BC as Executive Director, served as Artistic Curator for New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, led programming and learning for DanceEast, and was the Executive Producer for Michael Clark Company.
Henselmann received his dance training in Munich and London, where he attended Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Dance and Business Administration at New York University and holds a Master of Public Administration from the London School of Economics.
Martin West
Shelby and Frederick Gans Music Director and Principal Conductor
Martin West leads an orchestra that is as musically excellent as it is adventurous. Under his direction, SF Ballet Orchestra has greatly expanded its catalog of recordings.
Born in Bolton, England, he studied math at Cambridge. After studying music at the Royal Academy of Music in London and St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music, he made his debut with English National Ballet and was appointed resident conductor. As a guest conductor, he has worked with New York City Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and The Royal Ballet.
He was named music director of SF Ballet in 2005. West’s recordings with SF Ballet Orchestra include the complete score of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and an album of suites from Delibes’ Sylvia and Coppélia. He also conducted for the award-winning DVD of John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid as well as SF Ballet’s televised recording of Nutcracker for PBS and the 2015 in-cinema release of Helgi Tomasson’s Romeo & Juliet for Lincoln Center at the Movies’ Great American Dance.
Grace Maduell Holmes
Director, San Francisco Ballet School
Grace Holmes began her training at SF Ballet School in 1979 under educators including long-time company director Lew Christensen. She began her professional career at New Orleans Ballet Theatre and joined SF Ballet’s company in 1983, where she was promoted to soloist in 1990 and danced until 1995.
Following her tenure at SF Ballet, she danced with the Birmingham Royal Ballet as a Senior Soloist until her retirement from the stage in 2000, then transitioned to a role as Birmingham’s Education Projects Officer.
Holmes went on to teach dance at an array of higher education institutions and professional dance companies in the United States and as Ballet Education Manager for The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden prior to her appointment at Kansas City Ballet School in 2014, where she oversaw all school programming and student performance opportunities. Holmes returned to San Francisco as Director of SF Ballet School in 2024.
Tamara Rojo
Artistic Director
Tamara Rojo is a celebrated leader and award-winning principal dancer who was appointed Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet in December 2022. Prior to this appointment, she served as Artistic Director and Lead Principal of London’s English National Ballet (ENB) for nine and a half years, where she implemented groundbreaking programming, garnered the company accolades, and spearheaded a successful £50-million capital campaign to create a new headquarters for the company which opened in 2019.
Rojo has a depth of experience through her 30-year career as a professional ballerina. Prior to her directorship at ENB, she was a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet for over a decade following a role as a principal at ENB in the late 1990s. Her acclaimed dance repertoire includes lead roles in all full-length ballet classics, as well as works by Balanchine, Robbins, MacMillan, and more. Raised in Madrid, Rojo received her bachelor’s degree in Dance/Choreography at the Real Conservatorio de Danza Mariemma and received a Master’s in Theatrical Arts as well as a doctorate from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid.
She has received Spain’s three highest honors: the Gold Medal of Fine Arts (2002), Prince of Asturias Arts Award (2005), Encomienda de Numero Queen Isabel La Católica (2011); the Kennedy Center Gold Medal for Fine Arts (2012); the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for distinguished services to ballet (2016); and two Olivier Awards, one for Best New Dance Production in 2010 for the Brandstrup-Rojo Project, and one for Best Achievement in Dance in 2017 for ENB’s repertoire. Rojo is also a 2021 Dance Magazine Award honoree.