- Source: 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
=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
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
*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/