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 San Francisco Ballet as Executive Director in 2024, bringing more than three decades of experience spanning arts leadership, cultural policy, and business strategy. Most recently, he served as Managing Director overseeing Arts, Culture, and Tourism for the City of Vancouver, where he led development of a transformative 10-year cultural plan unanimously adopted by elected officials. This work established arts and culture as essential civic infrastructure—the fourth pillar of sustainability—increased municipal investment, and advanced cultural equity through dedicated support for artists and affordable spaces.
His arts leadership career, following his time as a performing artist, spans North America and Europe and includes roles as Artistic Curator for New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, Director of Programming and Learning for DanceEast and Executive Producer for Michael Clark Company (both UK). Before joining the City of Vancouver government, he served as Executive Director of Ballet BC, leading the company through record-breaking organizational growth and international expansion.
Henselmann received his initial dance training in Munich and completed it at the conservatory level at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. He holds an MFA in Dance and Business Administration from New York University and 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
Since 2024, Grace Holmes has served as Director of the San Francisco Ballet School and Trainee Program. In her role, she cultivates the next generation of professional dancers, building on her varied career as a dancer and educator with over 20 years of experience teaching students of all ages in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Holmes began her training at the SF Ballet School in 1979 under educators including longtime company director Lew Christensen. She launched 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, Holmes danced as a Senior Soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Her repertoire as a dancer includes over 100 ballets and she has worked with internationally acclaimed choreographers including William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor, Val Caniparoli, David Bintley, and James Kudelka, among others.
After retiring from the stage in 2000, she transitioned to a role as Birmingham’s Education Projects Officer and went on to serve as Ballet Education Manager at The Royal Ballet/Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. In the United States, she created a ballet program for Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, Texas; was a professor of dance at the University of Texas at Austin; and served as the School Director of Kansas City Ballet from 2014 to 2023.
Holmes has a Master’s degree in Dance in Education and Community from Westhill College at University of Birmingham, UK.
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.