Dance in California
California is rich in dance history. In classical ballet, California is home to the oldest professional ballet company in the United States. The San Francisco Ballet, founded as the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1933, predates both American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet. Barbara Crockett founded the Sacramento Ballet in 1954 and hosted the first festival for the Pacific Western Region of Regional Dance America in 1966. In modern dance, Ruth St. Denis established her second school in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles in 1940 while Lester Horton created the Horton Dance Group in 1934, also in Los Angeles. Ann Halprin founded the San Francisco Dancers’ Workshop in 1950 and continues to live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area in also home to Alonzo King's Lines Ballet and Oberlin Dance Collective.
Timeline
1910-1920
1920-1930
1930-1940
- San Francisco Opera Ballet
1940-1950
- Horton Dance Group
1950-1960
1960-1970
1970-1980
1980-1990
Company Listing
Professional Ballet Companies
San Francisco
Greater Bay Area
North San Joaquin Valley
Northern Sierra Foothills
Professional Modern/Contemporary Companies
San Francisco
North San Joaquin Valley
Los Angeles
Schools
Ballet/Dance Schools
Northern California
Southern California
RDA (Regional Dance America) Members
- Crockett-Deane Ballet
- Dance Connection Ballet Company
- Juline Regional Youth Ballet
- Long Beach Ballet
- Maple Youth Ballet
- Marin Ballet
- Paso Robles Chamber Ballet
- North Coast Ballet California
- Sacramento Ballet Youth Ensemble
- Santa Barbara Festival Ballet
- Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre
- South Bay Ballet
- State Street Ballet Young Dancers
Degree Programs
Native Dancers
External Resources
- http://www.dancehistoryproject.org/article/articles/chronologies/ballet-chronologies/