The San Francisco Ballet (SF Ballet) has chosen to withdraw from its scheduled appearances at the Kennedy Center, which were set to take place in May 2026. The decision was made after significant public pressure on the company, including an online petition calling for the performances to be cancelled.

The company had scheduled seven performances of a contemporary ballet, Mere Mortals, which was to explore some possible connections between ancient Greek myth and artificial intelligence. SF Ballet’s Board of Trustees did not offer any rationale for the decision to withdraw.

According to the New York Times, Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell responded by saying that “professional artists should perform for everyone — not just for people they agree with politically.”

SF Ballet is the latest in a long list of artists who have chosen not to perform at the Kennedy Center since President Trump took it over, including the Washington National Opera, Philip Glass, Patti LuPone, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Broadway cast of Les Misérables, and soprano Renée Fleming.

“SF Ballet’s Board of Trustees has made the decision that the company’s performances that were scheduled at the Trump Kennedy Center May 27-31 will no longer take place,” the company wrote in a statement shared with SFGate. “SF Ballet looks forward to performing for Washington, D.C. audiences in the future.”

“I feel like it is part of our job to be able to present art in all contexts, in all places, and to be able to open our art forms,” said Isaac Hernández, former SF Ballet principal dancer, of the complex factors informing the decision. “During complicated times, it sometimes takes valor to go against someone’s opinion. But what I believe to be the most important is that the artists are able to be present and to present their work.”

“So in my view, I’m glad that there are organizations that are wanting to make their stand. And I am also glad that organizations are going ahead (and performing) because being there a couple of weeks ago, we realized that if we don’t go there, the orchestra doesn’t work, the backstage (employees) doesn’t work, the costume department doesn’t work.”