Summertime Screenings

“In 1994, Michael Smuin set out to “infuse ballet with the rhythm, speed, and syncopation of American popular culture.”

In 1994, Michael Smuin set out to “infuse ballet with the rhythm, speed, and syncopation of American popular culture,” and Smuin Contemporary Ballet (née Smuin Ballets/SF, or more recently, Smuin Ballet) was born. Michael Smuin’s vision lives on following his sudden passing in 2007, and the Company continues to push the boundaries of contemporary ballet within a distinctly modern style, combining classical ballet training, technique, and artistry with uncommon physicality and expression.

Company Founder Michael Smuin was born on October 13, 1938, in Missoula, Montana. Smuin studied tap dancing as a child and became instantly enamoured with ballet when his mother took him to see the Ballet Russe on tour at the University of Montana. At the age of 15, Smuin moved to Salt Lake City to study dance on scholarship at the University of Utah. A few years later, San Francisco Ballet director Lew Christensen recruited Smuin for San Francisco Ballet, where he danced for six years. Smuin took a leave of absence from the company in 1962 to relocate to New York, where he performed in Bob Fosse’s Little Me on Broadway. During this time, Smuin created a nightclub act with his then-wife and fellow dancer Paula Tracy. Their “well-disguised ballet,” as Smuin would call it, toured widely and was billed alongside such entertainers as Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, and Frank Sinatra. The act later appeared on television on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace, and Bell Telephone Hour, among others. Smuin joined American Ballet Theatre in 1965, where he choreographed Pulcinella Variations, The Catherine Wheel, Eternal Idol and several other pieces for the company before returning to San Francisco in 1973. During his years in New York he also worked with Leonard Bernstein, choreographing Candide.

Smuin spent 12 years as a choreographer and co-director of San Francisco Ballet, a period that coincided with his direction of Sophisticated Ladies on Broadway. Smuin served as Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet until 1985, and was instrumental in raising the company’s profile in the international arts community. His ventures included serving as co-chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts dance panel (1979-1981), staging a performance at the White House, and presenting his Romeo and Juliet and his Emmy Award-winning feature A Song for Dead Warriors for PBS’s Dance in America program. In 1988, Smuin received both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for his choreography for Anything Goes.

Outside of ballet and Broadway, Smuin choreographed several Francis Ford Coppola films, some of which include Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. His choreography can also be seen in such films as A Walk in the Clouds, The Joy Luck Club, The Fantastiks, and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (Special Edition).

Michael Smuin’s ballets are currently in the repertories of major dance companies around the country. Since founding Smuin Contemporary American Ballet in 1994, he created 40 new works for his company alone. His creations range from classical, as seen in his acclaimed September 11th tribute, Stabat Mater (2002), and Carmina Burana (1997), to the innovative Bluegrass/Slyde with its revolving-pole set, to one-act story ballets like Pinocchio (1999) and  Zorro (2003). Many of Smuin’s ballet’s boast a touch of Broadway flair, such as the wildly popular Dancin’ With Gershwin (2001) and Fly Me to the Moon (2004).

Smuin passed away suddenly on April 23, 2007, surrounded by his dancers while teaching company class. His vision, style, and energy remain with the Company to this day.

South African, Andrea Giselle Schermoly is a freelance international choreographer and the resident choreographer at Louisville Ballet Company.

She has created original work and staged her existing work for companies worldwide including Royal New Zealand Ballet, West Australian Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, Ballet Met, Kansas City Ballet Company, Sacramento Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Boulder Ballet, BB2, Tucson Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Cape Dance Company and Compania Nacional de Danza in addition to many others. She has created for principal artists including Maria Kochetkova, Joaquin de Luz, Sarah van Patten and Wei Wang.

She directed and choreographed her dance film ‘Rite of Spring’ for Louisville Ballet, ‘In Passing’ for The Ashley Bouder Project and choreographed for feature films, commercials and music videos in Hollywood including ‘Beautiful Now’, ‘Bunheads’, ‘Get Lost’, Justin Bieber/Poo Bear and Deorro. She choreographically assisted on ‘Budweiser Superbowl Commercial’ and ‘Star Trek into Darkness’.

Andrea has created eight works for Louisville Ballet and had the honor of re-creating two iconic Martha Graham works in collaboration with Louisville Orchestra: ‘Appalachian Spring’ and ‘Judith’. She has recently created a new full length ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for Royal New Zealand Ballet, 2023, which received excellent reviews, was restaged at West Australian Ballet in 2024 and won “BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION” at the West Australian Arts Awards. Her dance film ‘Rite of Spring’ for Louisville Ballet received outstanding reviews including “the best pandemic film produced in the US”. by ARTS AIR. She has recently created an original full length production of ‘Carmen’ for Charlotte Ballet in 2025 and creations for Cincinnati Ballet and Richmond Ballet amongst others.

Andrea danced with the prestigious Netherlands Dance Theater, originating roles in creations by Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot/Sol Leon and many renowned creators. She danced with Boston Ballet 2, dancing principal/solo roles with Boston Ballet in works by Jorma Elo and Rudi van Dantzig. She trained on full scholarship at the Royal Ballet School and Rambert Ballet and Contemporary School, London. Her earlier training was in her hometown, Johannesburg, at the National School of the Arts. She was a member of the South African National Rhythmic Gymnastics team having competed worldwide.

Photo by Helen Bruce

Amy Seiwert enjoyed a nineteen-year performing career dancing with Smuin, Los Angeles Chamber, and Sacramento Ballets. As a dancer with Smuin, she became involved with the “Protégé Program,” where Michael Smuin was her mentor. She retired as a dancer from Smuin in 2008. That same year, Celia Fushille named her Choreographer in Residence, a position she held for a decade. She is the recipient of numerous choreographic awards, including a “Goldie” award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2010, which described Seiwert as the Bay Area’s most original dance thinker, “taking what some consider a dead language and using it with a 21st-century lingo to tell us something about who we are.” 

In 2017 Seiwert’s first full-evening work, “Wandering,” set to Schubert’s Winterreise, was commissioned by the Joyce Theater in New York. The NEA and Kennedy Center have also supported Seiwert’s works. A former Artist in Residence at ODC Theater, she has also served on the Artist Faculty for Jacob’s Pillow’s Contemporary Ballet program. Her creations are in the repertory of Smuin, ODC/Dance, BalletX, Ballet Austin, and AXIS Dance, as well as Washington, Atlanta, Oakland, Kansas City, Colorado, Louisville, Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, American Repertory, and Milwaukee Ballets.