28 Oct San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker Online – An Interactive Experience
San Francisco Ballet and Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson are pleased to announce that Nutcracker, which was previously announced not to be presented live in the War Memorial Opera House in 2020, will return this season as an interactive, virtual experience for friends and family from the comfort of their homes. Starting November 27th, Nutcracker Online will be released in an immersive digital world designed by San Francisco local event design and production specialists Blueprint Studios to reflect the innovation of the Bay Area community.
Featuring the high definition stream of the 2008 San Francisco Ballet and KQED Public Television in association with Thirteen/WNET New York’s co-production of Helgi Tomasson’s critically acclaimed Nutcracker, the stream was captured at the War Memorial Opera House in December 2007 and features Yuan Yuan Tan as the Snow Queen, Pierre-François Vilanoba as the Snow King, Vanessa Zahorian as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Elizabeth Powell as Clara, with the grand pas de deux danced by Maria Kochetkova and Davit Karapetyan. In addition to the stream access, ticket holders are invited to guide themselves through an immersive digital journey through the War Memorial Opera House full of interactive activities, fun videos, and the ability to visit the San Francisco Ballet Shop, and much more.
San Francisco Ballet presented America’s first complete performance of Nutcracker in 1944. And today, San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker is enjoyed by over 75,000 people each December. Every dancer in the Company dances in this production, along with 160 students from the San Francisco Ballet School who perform roles as Clara, Fritz, snowflakes, waltzing flowers, mice, and more. This season, due to the generosity of San Francisco Ballet donors, thousands of community members, including students from the San Francisco Unified School District partner schools and patients in local hospitals, will enjoy free access to San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker. Additionally, more than 500 local youth from Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco will attend Nutcracker-themed viewing parties with crafts and treats at their Clubhouses.
The expansive 2020 digital experience will be available from November 27–December 31, 2020.