BALLET HEADLINERS OF THE YEAR From the Desk of Genevieve Bresson, Jean-Etienne Flamand, Luba Terechenko, Vladimir Pedrovich and Florence Desmoulins
Photo:
Rachel Viselli and
Sarah Van Patten in Tomasson/Possokhov's Don Quixote (photo by Andrea Flores)
Tomasson’s achievements have
garnered him numerous awards and honors, and he has participated as a judge
for ballet competitions in Italy, Moscow, Helsinki and Japan. During the 1970s
in his homeland of Iceland, he was named a Knight of the Order of the Falcon
for his achievement as a dancer. In June 1990, Tomasson was named Commander of
the Order of the Falcon by the President of Iceland for his continuous
achievement in the arts. In 1989, he received Dance Bay Area’s Isadora Duncan
Award for his outstanding choreography in Swan Lake. In 1991, he was
awarded the Commonwealth Club of California’s Distinguished Citizen Award. In
recognition of his artistic excellence, Tomasson received the Golden Plate
Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 1992. That same year, he
received the Dance Magazine Award in recognition of his contributions
to the dance world. In 1995, Tomasson joined the Artistic Advisory Board of
The Ballet Theatre in Prague, directed by Jana Kurová.
In
1980, Tomasson choreographed his first ballet for the School of American
Ballet Workshop which elicited encouragement from Balanchine to continue
choreographing. Tomasson accepted the invitation from San Francisco Ballet to
become artistic director of America’s first professional ballet company in
1985, drawing to a close a glorious performing career. Since assuming this
role with the Company, Tomasson has choreographed over 30 ballets, including
stunning full-length productions of Giselle, Swan Lake, The Sleeping
Beauty and Romeo & Juliet. His intricate and varied works, such as
Handel-a Celebration, Meistens Mozart, Nanna’s Lied and Sonata,
showcase the unique qualities of individual dancers. Tomasson’s work Prism,
which debuted in 2000 at New York City Ballet, received rave reviews and was
deemed a “triumph” by The New York Times dance critic, Anna Kisselgoff.
This season, Tomasson has created two new works: Bartok Divertimento
for the 2002 Gala and Chi-Lin, which will run on program 5 of the
Company’s 2002 Repertory Season.
Photo:
Yuan Yuan Tan and
Vadim Solomakha in Makarova's staging of Paquita. Photo Credits: Jannet
Levitt
Tomasson’s own
works have been performed by New York City Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet,
Houston Ballet, Alberta Ballet and Asami Maki Ballet. Tomasson’s 1993 staging
of The Sleeping Beauty in Denmark was the most lavish production ever
produced in the company’s history. The production was later filmed for Danish
public television in April 1995. His ballet Con Brio, danced to music
by Riccardo Drigo, entered the repertory of Tokyo’s Asami Maki Ballet in
September 1996. His Handel-a Celebration was performed by the Teatro
Colon’s Ballet Estable in August 1999 and he created a new work for Alberta
Ballet, entitled “Much Ado…” which premiered in October 1999. Under
Tomasson’s direction, San Francisco Ballet has toured the world, receiving
praise for its purity and verve. Engagements in New York City (1991, 1993,
1995, 1998), London (1999, 2001), Copenhagen (1998) and Paris (1988, 1994,
2001) are among the highlights of the Company’s history. The Times
dance writer Debra Craine summarized the 1999 London Tour succinctly, “The
extraordinary array of talent on display was enough to show that San Francisco
Ballet deserves to be the envy of the ballet world.” Most recently, Le
Figaro proclaimed of the Company’s 2001 engagement in Paris, “San
Francisco Ballet has a distinguished company spirit and style and brilliant
classical technique …the quality of this company is built without a doubt by
Helgi Tomasson over the past fifteen years.”