San Francisco Ballet has announced their next season will begin February 2022 with in-person performances as well as select digital material. Along with this joyous news for ballet aficionados, there is some heartbreak as well—after 37 years leading the company, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson will be saying goodbye.
Aptly named Celebrating Helgi Tomasson, the 2022 season will present seven programs that highlight Tomasson’s career as both a dancer and choreographer. The season will represent his legacy of supporting the careers of emerging choreographers and making San Francisco Ballet a company recognized worldwide for its excellence and creativity.
“From my very first days in San Francisco, my goal has been to build a ballet company that draws from the past while looking forward.” said Tomasson. “Thirty-six years later, I’m proud that San Francisco Ballet’s distinctiveness derives from this duality: a brilliant ability to bring the classics to life as well as a curiosity for exploring new works. I am excited for the company in its next chapter, as the arrival of a new artistic director will usher in new artistic opportunities to continue in the spirit of innovation and exploration.”
Celebrating Helgi Tomasson will include the world premiere of Tomasson’s new work Harmony, revivals of story ballets Don Quixote and Swan Lake, as well as Trio, The Fifth Season, Caprice and Prism. Harmony was created during the pandemic and will be Tomasson’s 46th creation for SF Ballet.
As SF Ballet continues to roll with setbacks and challenges of the pandemic era, they look forward to the future with hope. “We have a lot to celebrate in 2022,” said Executive Director Kelly Tweeddale, “the commitment of our entire community to get us this far, the ability to keep our artists in the creative mode during the darkest of times, the almost four decades–long tenure of Helgi Tomasson in his final celebratory season with San Francisco Ballet, and being reunited with our audiences, without whom we could not exist.”
San Francisco Ballet’s 2022 season will run February 1–May 8, 2022. Subscription packages are on sale now. Single tickets will be available for purchase this fall.