Smuin Contemporary Ballet | San Francisco’s Contemporary Ballet

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Photo by Chris Hardy

Smuin Ballet Performances

2021/22 Season

Be moved.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet offers astounding, accessible, breathtaking productions. From our fiercely festive The Christmas Ballet to new works from up-and-coming dancemakers and the cheekily cheerful revival of Amy Seiwert’s irresistible Patsy Cline tribute — our live performances will move you! Be entertained by Smuin Ballet and experience how the art has never stopped. Tickets are on sale now.

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The Christmas Ballet

November 19 – December 26

Smuin 21-22, Portrait Image, DS1

Dance Series 1 – Love, Smuin

February 4 – 27, 2022

Smuin 21-22, Portrait Image, DS2

Dance Series 2 – P.S. Forever Smuin

April 29, 2022 – May 28, 2022

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Smuin Center for Dance

We offer classes in ballet, pointe, contemporary, character, hip-hop, Broadway jazz, tap, and fitness.

Smuin x Tangentfit: Our first branded collaboration!

Watch this space for events coming soon. Please join our email list to receive announcements about upcoming events!

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin B

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin Ballet roster this season! 🌸 Marc LaPierre began his early training at Ballet Etudes in Norwalk, CT under the direction of Nanette Vallas, training closely with Christina Fagundes. He then attended Ballet Academy East in New York City under the direction of Darla Hoover and at age 16, and furthered his training at The School of American Ballet. He had danced with Los Angeles Ballet, dancing works by August Bournonville, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton and Alejandro Cerrudo. Two years later he joined Oregon Ballet Theatre as an apprentice and was promoted to the Company corps de ballet in his second season. During his time with OBT, he danced works by Alvin Ailey, Ben Stevenson, Nicolo Fonte, Christopher Stowell, and Trey MyIntyre. LaPierre joined Smuin in 2021.

We hope that you will join us for a performance this season so you can see all of our artists share the stage together! #smuinballet

📸Photo by Chris Hardy

Let’s Celebrate World Ballet Day! Happy #WorldB

Let’s Celebrate World Ballet Day!

Happy #WorldBalletDay from Smuin Contemporary Ballet! Today reminds us that ballet and all forms of dance are meant to be shared and enjoyed by everyone!

From bringing our passion and creativity to the stage to sharing our love of learning dance in our studios, World Ballet Day opens the world of dance to everyone from Smuin Artists to absolute beginners.

Next month we return to the stages we love for Smuin’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵. Check out the link in our bio for performance dates and all of our #SmuinCenterforDance class offerings!

Enjoy this clip of 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 by Brennan Wall, which will be expanded and performed in our 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 2: 𝘗.𝘚. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘮𝘶𝘪𝘯 performances this spring! Interlude first premiered in our Choreography Showcase performances this past spring, featuring company artists Cassidy Isaacson & Brandon Alexander. Music by Max Richter. #smuinballet

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin B

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin Ballet roster this season! ✨Stéphano Candreva was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he trained in ballet at Escola de Danca Alice Arja. Stéphano started his career performing with Brazillian professional companies Cisne Negro Cia de Danca and Teatro Sesiminas. Stéphano has danced in the U.S. with City Ballet of San Diego, California Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and most recently, Atlanta Ballet. He has danced works by Septime Webre, Stanton Welch, George Balanchine, David Craigson, Ricardo Amarante, Yuri Possokov, Mark Morris, Max Petrov, and Betsey Wistrich. Candreva joined Smuin in 2021.

We hope that you will join us for a performance this season so you can see all of our artists share the stage together! #smuinballet

📸Photo by Chris Hardy

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin B

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin Ballet roster this season! 🕊 Claire Buehler is from Milwaukee, WI and trained at the Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy. She has danced with the Studio Company at Oklahoma City Ballet, Nashville Ballet II, and Minnesota Ballet before joining Smuin in 2021 as an apprentice. Some of Claire’s favorite past performances and roles include Gina Patterson’s 72 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴, Winter in Paul Vasterling’s 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴, Blue Bird in Karl Von Rabenau’s 𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺, and Cygnets in Robert Mills’ 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦. Claire has also been featured in works by Chris Stuart, Charlotte Boyd-Christensen, and Mollie Sansone.

We hope that you will join us for a performance this season so you can see all of our artists share the stage together! #smuinballet

📸Photo by Chris Hardy

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin B

Join us in welcoming some new faces to the Smuin Ballet roster this season! 🌱 Yuri Rogers began his training with the Academy of Ballet San Francisco under the direction of Richard Gibson and Zory Karah. He then had the opportunity to continue his training and perform with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Grand Rapids Ballet, and BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio. Rogers has performed works by Lar Lubovitch, Leiland Charles, and Edwaard Liang. Rogers joined Smuin in 2021.

We hope that you will join us for a performance this season so you can see all of our artists share the stage together! #smuinballet

📸 Photo by Chris Hardy

⭐️Introducing — Smuin Ballet’s 2021/2022 S

⭐️Introducing — Smuin Ballet’s 2021/2022 Season Artists!

Smuin Ballet is thrilled to return to the stage as a full company this season! We hope you’ll join us for a performance, whether that’s in-theater, online, or both! Link to our season performance calendar in BIO! #smuinballet

Photos by Chris Hardy
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#Smuin #SmuinBallet #Ballet #Dance #WorldwideBallet #WorldwideDance #ContemporaryBallet #FemaleChoreographers #MakeStuff #Rehearsal #BehindTheScenes #TeamWork #SmuinStyle #BayArea #SanFrancisco #SFBayArea #DancePhotography #BalletDancer #Choreography #DancerLife #BayAreaArtist #Performance #Headshots

Get to know our Artists! 💫 Mengjun Chen, of Wen

Get to know our Artists! 💫 Mengjun Chen, of Wenzhou, China, trained at the Beijing Dance Academy and Joffrey Ballet Academy of Dance. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Beijing Dance Academy, he joined Milwaukee Ballet where he performed major roles in Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Cinderella, Dracula and La Boheme. Chen also performed contemporary works by Matthew Neenan, Gabrielle Lamb, Ma Cong, Amy Seiwert and Val Caniparoli. In 2014, he was a finalist in the USA International Ballet Competition. Chen joined Smuin in 2015. (📸 Chris Hardy) #meetthesmuinartist

We have paired our Rewind Wednesday features with our Meet the Artist Interview Series! Get to know our artists through these insightful interviews created last season! Link to interview in BIO! #smuinballet

🎉Join us in celebrating a few Smuin anniversari

🎉Join us in celebrating a few Smuin anniversaries this month! We are so grateful to celebrate the work that these individuals have put into making Smuin Ballet what it is today!

𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘼𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 (Wardrobe Assistant) - celebrating 20 years with Smuin Ballet - has worked with Bay Area companies including Berkeley Opera, Lines Contemporary Ballet, ODC, Oakland Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, and serving as Wardrobe Master for Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for eight years. His number one priority for the last 20 years has been Smuin Ballet, and he prides himself on helping to create a family-like atmosphere within the company.

𝙆𝙏 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢 (Production Director & Stage Manager) - celebrating 24 years with Smuin Ballet - joined Smuin Ballet in 1997 after working as Production Stage Manager and Lighting Designer for Lewitzky Dance Company in Los Angeles, as well as Technical & Lighting Director for Washington Ballet in Washington, D.C. with whom she toured extensively both nationally and internationally.

𝙅𝙤𝙀𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙧𝙣𝙩𝙯 (Company Manager) - celebrating 25 years with Smuin Ballet - joined Smuin as Wardrobe Supervisor in 1996 and became Company Manager shortly thereafter. Working with Michael Smuin at San Francisco Ballet and later his own company prepared her for the multiple hats she wears in the organization today.

(Vincent Avery, KT Graham, and JoEllen Arntz - photos by Chris Hardy) #smuinballet

Finding that perfect pair ✨ Company Artist Cassi

Finding that perfect pair ✨ Company Artist Cassidy Isaacson sewing pointe shoes in between rehearsals. Did you know some of our dancers can go through over 100 pairs of pointe shoes in just one season?! (📸 @maggiecareyyy) #smuinballet #inthesmuinstudios

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We thank all our generous sponsors for their support. Sponsored in part by SF Grants for the Arts, General Fund Portion of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund and National Endowment for the Arts.

Foulke Correa

Beverly M. Folger Foundation

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