Outgoing Director Patrick Armand Honored At SF Ballet School's Spring Festival

Just as its parent company San Fransisco Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet School turns 90 this year, its anniversary – and its current Director Patrick Armand – to be celebrated at the annual Spring Festival.

Patrick Armand has been part of SF Ballet School since 2010 when he joined as the Principal of the Trainee Program. A couple of years later, he was promoted to Associate Director and then to Director in 2017.

Although he will be dedicating more time with his family after concluding his tenure as the Director, Armand will continue his association with he San Francisco organization as School Artistic Associate.

“Leading the Ballet School and nurturing the next generation of dancers in San Francisco for the past decade has been one of the great thrills of my career,” shared Armand. “It has been a difficult decision, but I am choosing to take a step back to focus on my family. I am honored that SF Ballet and Tamara have offered to create a position so that I can continue to support students and dancers at the Ballet School as a School Artistic Associate.”

“I’ve known Patrick for over twenty years, and his devotion to nurturing excellence in education and a general love of dance is unparalleled. While I am sad that he’s stepping down as director, I’m delighted that he has accepted our offer to continue contributing to our shared vision for the future of ballet in our studios. As we launch an international search for the next director of SF Ballet’s renowned school, we look forward to speaking with leading dance education candidates who have an appreciation for innovative instruction as well as a diverse background and perspective.”

Tamara Rojo

Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet

SF Ballet School 2023 Spring Festival

The fundraising dinner on May 25th, which takes place during the Spring Festival, will be held in Patrick Armand’s honor and all proceeds from it – and the performances – will benefit SF Ballet School’s scholarship and financial aid programs.

The 2023 Spring Festival includes three evenings of varying programs that highlight the talent in the School, from young students beginning their training to advanced students on the verge of professional dance careers.

Curated by Armand, the performances feature:

a world premiere by Myles Thatcher, an SF Ballet Soloist whose ballets include COLORFORMS and Otherness, and whose choreographic career started at SF Ballet School;
and an excerpt from former SF Ballet Artistic Director Lew Christensen’s Beauty and the Beast (1958) in celebration of the School’s historic 90th anniversary;
premieres from SF Ballet School student choreographers;
a demonstration by students in Levels 2–8 choreographed by Karen Gabay, Stolen Moments by Val Caniparoli, and choreography by School Faculty members Dana Genshaft, Viktor Plotnikov, and Larissa Ponomarenko.