Grace Maduell Holmes

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.