Curious about life behind the curtain at San Francisco Ballet? See a ballet barre, hear from an artist, and learn about the history of classical ballet.

Ever wondered about the literature behind the ballets? Or wanted an excuse to delve a little deeper into everyone’s favorite story ballets? Join SF Ballet’s Audience Engagement team for a chance to do exactly that and take a deep dive into the literature behind the ballet.

Enter Shakespeare’s enchanted forest of whimsy, mistaken identity, and jest—where fairies rule and love (eventually) reigns supreme.

Company artists and visiting scholars invite you to delve deeper into that evening’s performance. You don’t have to buy a ticket to attend—all ballet fans are welcome.

Join the conversation, after watching a performance, to chat about what you just saw in an informal, moderated setting.

Dwight Rhoden’s brilliantly physical and deeply felt LET’S BEGIN AT THE END returns following its success at the 2018 Unbound Festival. SF Ballet Soloist Myles Thatcher, known for his signature blend of innovative movement and social consciousness, creates a new work. Closing the program, Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet is a cleverly tongue-in-cheek piece exemplary of this choreographer’s signature musical sensibility.

These intensive one-day classes bring you into the histories and interpretations of the selected works, as well as let you hear from the dancers and artists who bring them to life.

Created for 21 dancers, Symphony #9 highlights two lead couples and a solo male set against designer George Tsypin’s backdrop of grays and splashes of red recalling works of Socialist realism. Danielle Rowe’s first mainstage production for SF Ballet follows her Gala successes and is sure to delight fans of dramatic, contemporary choreography. Closing the program, Yuri Possokhov’s fan-favorite Swimmer brings audiences on a psychedelic multimedia journey through loneliness, love, and 1960s pop culture.

A ballet in three parts. George Balanchine’s full-length masterpiece, inspired by displays at New York City jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, is made up of three separate ballets—Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds.

A special afternoon bringing together SF Ballet Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson with former New York City Ballet principal dancers Kay Mazzo, Patricia McBride, Mimi Paul, and Edward Villella to discuss George Balanchine’s iconic ballet Jewels.

Looking for poetry, drama, and extreme virtuoso dancing? Helgi Tomasson’s 7 for Eight, a lyrical, neoclassical work for eight dancers incorporates sensual adagio, exuberant allegro, and everything in between. In the highly anticipated world premiere of Mrs. Robinson, master storyteller Cathy Marston puts her own spin on the mindset and motivations of The Graduate’s iconic temptress. David Dawson’s Anima Animus is ballet pushed to every extreme: technique stretched to its outer limit and physically emotional virtuosity.

Shakespeare’s tragic tale of star-crossed lovers comes to life with passionate dancing, spine-tingling swordsmanship, and stunning scenery and costume designs evoking Renaissance Italy.

Ballet’s greatest love story returns. Deeply moving and visually stunning, Swan Lake is the quintessential classical ballet. Helgi Tomasson’s strikingly modern production updates this tale of love and betrayal for the 21st century, featuring sets and costumes by Tony Award-winning designer Jonathan Fensom.