Ballet Reimagined: SF Ballet’s 2025 Season Blends Tradition, Innovation, and Emotional Power

With a flourish of artistry and athleticism, the 2025 San Francisco Ballet season opened its doors with performances that left audiences breathless and the city buzzing. In a year that demanded impact and intention, the ballet delivered both—with elegance, strength, and a deeper sense of purpose than ever before. This year’s opening wasn’t just about tradition; it was a reminder that ballet is a living dialogue between past and present, offering solace and inspiration when we need it most. The season kicked off officially with three traditional annual events that showcased the company’s artistic range, emotional depth, and ability to seamlessly blend the past and present.

There’s something magical about December in San Francisco—when the city dresses itself in misty halos, lights twinkle along Market Street, and The Nutcracker returns to the War Memorial Opera House like an old friend who knows just how to warm your heart. This past December, the SF Ballet reminded us once again why its production of The Nutcracker remains a dazzling tradition, an indulgence in fantasy and nostalgia that transcends generations.

With its grand sets, luminous costumes, and an orchestra that carried us on waves of Tchaikovsky’s spellbinding score, the evening was pure enchantment. The performance offered a bold reclamation of joy in a world starved for it. The dancers, embodying both discipline and whimsy, seemed to revel in the chance to transport us beyond our daily worries. The evening transformed into a sanctuary, a space to marvel and be awestruck. As we sat there, our inner children leaping alongside the Sugar Plum Fairy, opening night Honorary Chair Ayesha Curry’s words from the gala felt prophetic: Ballet is where we let our inner child be happy.

That sense of joy carried over into January’s Opening Night Gala, which sparkled with the kind of glamour only San Francisco can muster—a city where elegance often wears an edge, and tradition is constantly being reinvented. The gala stood as a proclamation. Under the glow of chandeliers, with tuxedos and gowns filling the grand hall, the night affirmed that ballet is a living, breathing art form with athletes as dedicated and rigorous as any Olympian. Watching the dancers glide across the stage with precision and grace reminded us that this is where beauty and strength intersect. Art, emotion, and resilience converged, showcasing the power of performance to heal and uplift.

But if the gala was a celebration of ballet’s timeless beauty, the opening night of Manon just a two days later served as a sobering reminder of its ability to confront the darker facets of the human experience. Under the visionary direction of Tamara Rojo, the production of Manon was less about opulence and more about survival—a story of class struggle, exploitation, and the precariousness of ambition.

Rojo’s staging highlighted the raw vulnerability of its characters, with choreography that blurred the lines between classic and contemporary movement. The dancers became vessels of emotion, their bodies bending and contorting in lifts that defied gravity and convention. Rojo’s use of unconventional fulcrums and leverage points on the dancer’s bodies (techniques often seen in contemporary dance and even competitive ice skating) brought a fresh dynamism to the production, making every lift a revelation.

The parallels between Manon’s narrative and today’s socio-political climate were impossible to ignore. Manon’s descent, driven by societal pressures and the limitations placed on women, felt painfully relevant. Haven’t we all seen how ambition in women is often vilified, how beauty becomes both currency and curse? This production made Manon’s tragedy feel deeply personal, as if the audience were witnessing the very societal forces responsible for her downfall.

And yet, even in tragedy, there is catharsis. We, the audience, sat transfixed, reminded of the role artists play as second responders—stepping in after the chaos to help us make sense of it all. Moreover, places like the San Francisco Ballet aren’t just venues for entertainment; they are third spaces, essential sanctuaries where we come to mend and marvel. In a world where bad news arrives faster than we can refresh our feeds, the ballet offers a pause, a breath, and a reason to believe in something greater than ourselves.

This season opener called to the dreamers, the artists, and the lovers, urging them to embrace beauty and meaning. It reminded us that art, like life, is fragile and fleeting, but also powerful and enduring. We celebrate an art form that came before us and will outlive us, and in doing so, we reclaim our humanity. As the curtain fell on the opening nights, it remained clear that we were participants in something larger, something sacred.

And darling, after witnessing this, we are more than ready to fight for beauty, for joy, and for the magic that keeps our hearts beating.

As we look ahead, anticipation builds for the next performance of Britannia, which kicks off on the thirteenth of February. With its promise of innovation and storytelling that dives deep into themes of identity and empire, it’s set to be another captivating chapter in this already extraordinary season.