The San Francisco Ballet (SFB) is aballet company, founded in 1933 as theSan Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States. It is among the world's leading dance companies, and along with American Ballet Theatre, and the New York City Ballet has been described as part of the "triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today."

History 
1938–1950 
The company's first major production was Coppélia in 1938, choreographed byWillam Christensen. In 1940 Swan Lake was produced in its entirety for the first time by Americans with principal ballerina Celina Cummings. The company also began showing The Nutcracker during the holiday season, beginning Christmas Eve, 1944. This too was choreographed by Willam Christensen and was the first complete production of Tchaikovsky's most popular piece in the United States.

In 1942 San Francisco Opera Ballet split in two, forming independent ballet and opera companies. The ballet half was sold to Willam and Harold Christensen, who became artistic director and appointed director of the San Francisco Ballet School, respectively. The San Francisco Ballet Guild was also formed during this time as a support organization for San Francisco Ballet.

1951–1985 
1951 saw the next significant shift in administration of San Francisco Ballet. In this year, Lew Christensen—the premier danseur at the time—partnered with Willam Christensen as co-directors. One year later, Lew took over entirely. With this new administration SFB began to broaden its horizons, travel, and establish itself as a significant American ballet company. Until 1956, San Francisco Ballet had remained on the West Coast, but Lew pushed the company into the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts. In 1957 SFB was the first American ballet company to tour the Far East, performing in eleven Asian nations. On New Year's Day in 1965, ABC-TV televised a one-hour abridgement of the Lew Christensen-choreographed production of "The Nutcracker", featuring San Francisco Ballet.

In 1972 Lew brought the company closer to its original home, the War Memorial Opera House, by officially naming the theatre as its official residence.

Timeline of productions 

Company 
The company of the San Francisco Ballet, as of July 2012:
Artistic director 
Ballet Master / Assistant to the Artistic Director Ricardo Bustamante

Ballet masters 
Betsy Erickson Anita Paciotti Katita Waldo 

Choreographer in residence 
Yuri Possokhov

Principal dancers

The San Francisco Ballet, as part of its 75th anniversary season in 2008, made a national tour through four major cities: Chicago, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Millennium Park, September 16–21;New York City Center, October 10–18; Costa Mesa, California, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, November 11–16; and Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, November 25–30. The tour featured ballets from SFB's New Works Festival, the finalé of their Spring 2008 season, which featured over the course of three consecutive nights premières of ten new ballets by ten major choreographers.

The Fifth Season 
Helgi Tomasson's choreography to Karl Jenkins' music with Sandra Woodall's scenery and costumes and Michael Mazzola's lighting

 Concerto Grosso 
Helgi Tomasson's choreography to Francesco Geminiani's music with Sandra Woodall's costumes and David Finn's lighting