When the San Francisco Ballet unveiled its complete 2026-2027 season, I felt a familiar thrill—the kind that only comes when a major company decides to take risks rather than play it safe. And let me tell you, SFB is not holding back.
This season reads like a carefully curated manifesto for where ballet is heading, and I’m here for it. Artistic Director Tamara Rojo continues to shape a vision that honors tradition while refusing to be imprisoned by it. The result? A lineup that feels electric, necessary, and refreshingly modern.
What strikes me most is the balance. Yes, we have the classics—a *Swan Lake* that will undoubtedly remind us why this company’s corps de ballet is among the finest in the world. But nestled alongside Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece are works that challenge, provoke, and expand what we think ballet can be.
The emphasis on female choreographers is impossible to ignore, and frankly, it’s about time. To see multiple programs featuring women shaping the narrative—not just dancing it—signals a shift that other major companies would do well to emulate. This isn’t tokenism; it’s artistic intelligence.
I’m particularly intrigued by the new commissions. There’s a palpable energy when a company invests in creating new work rather than relying solely on the canon. It’s a statement: ballet is a living art form, not a museum piece. The 2026-2027 season feels like SFB is planting flags in new territory, and I want to see what grows.
Of course, there are skeptics who will grumble about too much contemporary work. To them, I say: look closer. The classical technique remains the foundation, the grammar of every sentence these dancers speak. What changes is the vocabulary, the tone, the story being told. That’s not dilution—that’s evolution.
The programming also seems deeply aware of its audience. Mixed repertory evenings that pair bold new works with established crowd-pleasers? Smart. Full-length narratives that satisfy our hunger for storytelling? Thoughtful. This is a season designed to welcome newcomers while rewarding longtime devotees.
If there’s one concern I’d voice, it’s about bandwidth. Can even this extraordinary company maintain artistic excellence across such an ambitious slate? The dancers will be challenged, pushed, perhaps exhausted. But that’s the bargain we make with greatness—we ask for everything, and we trust them to deliver.
I’ll be watching closely, notebook in hand. And I suspect I won’t be the only one.
