{"id":424366,"date":"2026-08-05T09:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T09:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424366\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T09:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T09:58:16","slug":"san-francisco-ballet-returns-to-jacobs-pillow-after-70-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424366\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Ballet Returns to Jacob&#8217;s Pillow After 70 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This August, San Francisco Ballet makes a historic return to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobspillow.org\/festival\/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23737718877&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADpJT3OOv0K-pmvx3jMDADPNMzclH&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw94bTBhDQARIsAN3vv0yZMlP2rJaPyoWtvxCUmeKWIAZJtBPM1svMk95kxY59_zuOuVazyjEaAksHEALw_wcB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Jacob\u2019s Pillow Dance Festival<\/a> for the first time since its East Coast debut there 70 years ago. In 1956, under the direction of Lew Christensen, SFB went to the Pillow with three programs featuring eight ballets by George Balanchine and Christensen himself. The performances were a tremendous success, and, amplified by international press coverage and critical acclaim, they helped propel SFB from regional significance to international renown.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TPR2025GAL_LR_V5A3340-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Two dancers perform a pas de deux in the spotlight of a somewhat darken stage. the man, wearing a white collared shirt under a dark blue unitard, lunges to his left side, his right arm extended high, as he holds the ballerina by the waist with his left arm. His partner, wearing a short white dance dress, wraps her right arm around his left shoulders and stretches her left arm long, her legs extended in a split over her partner's's left thigh. Both dancers look towards her left hand and smile.\" class=\"wp-image-31063\"  \/>Frances Chung and Harrison James in Stevenson\u2019s Three Preludes. Photo by Lindsey Rallo, courtesy Jacob\u2019s Pillow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this year\u2019s dynamic return, SFB will present distinct programs at both the indoor Ted Shawn Theatre (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobspillow.org\/whats-on\/events\/san-francisco-ballet-indoors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">August 5\u20139<\/a>) and outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobspillow.org\/whats-on\/events\/san-francisco-ballet-outdoors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">August 5\u20138<\/a>). The programming reflects artistic director Tamara Rojo\u2019s vision for the company in honoring classical works while also pushing the art form forward. \u201cThose two commitments aren\u2019t in tension for me; they\u2019re two sides of the same coin,\u201d Rojo tells Pointe over email.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this spirit, the mixed program at the Ted Shawn Theatre includes Grosse Fuge, by Hans van Manen; Dust Duet, by Akram Khan; and William Forsythe\u2019s Prologue and The Barre Project. The performances will also feature live accompaniment by the two-time Grammy Award\u2013winning Albany Symphony for select works.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outdoor performances place classical technique center stage, with works by Ben Stevenson, Hans van Manen, Liam Scarlett, and others. \u201cThis program also invites other dance traditions\u2014some Argentinian tango from van Manen and modern influences from Isadora Duncan\u2014and really emphasizes the expressiveness you can find in both classical and contemporary ballet,\u201d Rojo says.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GRO2025ORE_LR_V5A6577-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Four female dancers in white leotards, white tights, and white slippers stand close together in a staggered line. A male dancer in wide-legged black pants dances to their left, facing them, with his bent right arm raised at his side, fist closed.He looks toward his right hand and keeps his left arm down at his side as he crosses his left leg back.\" class=\"wp-image-31064\"  \/>San Francisco Ballet in Hans Van Manen\u2019s Grosse Fuge. Photo by Lindsey Rallo, courtesy Jacob\u2019s Pillow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur dancers don\u2019t often have the opportunity to perform outdoors in nature, so I\u2019m very excited to see them perform in such a gorgeous, grounding environment,\u201d Rojo continues. \u201cWe are really thrilled to be re-introducing ourselves to the dance community in the Berkshires and to celebrate our unique shared history with one of the most influential presenters of international dance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This August, San Francisco Ballet makes a historic return to Jacob\u2019s Pillow Dance Festival for the first time&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[169271,101,26971,103,102,104,106,105,40725],"class_list":["post-424366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-jacobs-pillow","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-ballet","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-tamara-rojo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}