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.
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Timeline
1910-1920 Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts Founded (1915) Martha Graham attends Denishawn School
1920-1930 San Francisco War Memorial Opera House Opens (1932)
1930-1940 San Francisco Opera Ballet (1933)
1940-1950 Horton Dance Group (1934)
1950-1960 San Francisco Dancers' Workshop (1950) Sacramento Ballet (1954)
1960-1970 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (1954)
1970-1980 Oberlin Dance Collective
1980-1990 Lines Ballet (1982)
Company Listing
Professional Ballet Companies
San Francisco San Francisco Ballet Lines Ballet Smuin Ballet
Greater Bay Area Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley Oakland Ballet Company C Contemporary Ballet
North San Joaquin Valley The Sacramento Ballet Folsom Lake Civic Ballet
Northern Sierra Foothills Placer Theatre Ballet
Professional Modern/Contemporary Companies
San Francisco ODC Robert Moses's Kin
North San Joaquin Valley Core Contemporary Dance
Los Angeles HomeLA
Schools
Ballet/Dance Schools
Northern California San Francisco Ballet School The School (Sacramento Ballet) Marin Ballet
Southern California Coburn School
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 BABFAMFAPHDMills College√√√UC Irvine√√*√UCLA√√√* *BFA in Choreography/Performance
Native Dancers Isadora Duncan Maia Wilkins Jodie Gates Sascha Radetsky
References
External Resources http://www.dancehistoryproject.org/article/articles/chronologies/ballet-chronologies/