San Francisco Ballet Spring Festival showcases students ready to go pro

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company and school in the country. This year, it is celebrating its 90th anniversary and, next week, its students will take the stage for a very special presentation called Spring Festival. 

Trainee Jacey Gailliard, age 18, has been preparing for the big showcase since the school year began in August. 

She spends six days a week, nearly eight hours a day, perfecting her moves at the San Francisco Ballet School. 

The Pennsylvania native said she has dreamed of attending the school since she was 12 years old after she completed a summer program here.

Her mother finally agreed to let her make the move alone when she turned 15. 

“It’s really been a part of my life since I was three years old. I always knew that I loved to dance and I just wanted to be on stage,” Gailliard said. “I  think a lot of people don’t realize how many sacrifices it takes.”

Some of her greatest challenges include taking academic classes at night after a full day of ballet school and moving away from her parents.

This year Gailliard auditioned to join the company as an apprentice and she made the cut. Only half of the twelve try-outs were accepted. 

“Ultimately, the dream for me is to inspire young girls — especially African American ballet dancers who really aren’t represented as well as other ethnicities within the ballet world,” she said. “And just be able to dance as many works and styles as I can while my body allows me to.”

Gailliard is among dozens of S.F. Ballet School students whose yearlong work culminates in this year’s 30th Spring Festival.

It will be the final performance for S.F. Ballet School and trainee program director Patrick Armand, who started with the company in 2010. In 2012, he became the school’s associate director.  

“As a performer, I always wanted to have people moved and then be transported the way we do on stage,” Armand said. “With the Spring Festival, it’s even more kind of emotional because it’s younger people. They’re not adults yet but they are absolutely unbelievable dancers already.”

Armand has been dedicated to making the art form more inclusive and approachable.

Among his accomplishments: creating a special dance program for people living with Parkinson’s Disease. Armand said his mother had Parkinson’s and he wanted to create a space in the community in her honor.

“Ballet is for everyone. Ballet can be therapeutic, can be just life-changing,” he said. 

During his tenure, more than 70 percent of the school’s students have gone on to become professional dancers with the S.F. Ballet. 

“I just really love the work in getting to the stage and you can really feel the preparation and the blood, sweat and tears that these dancers put themselves through to show you something that’s really beautiful,” Gailliard said. 

The Spring Festival will feature performances over three nights at the Blue Shield Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts May 24-26. 

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Spring Festival