San Francisco Ballet Dance Festival in Massachusetts. In 1957, it was the first American ballet company to tour the Far East, performing in 11 Asian nations. On New Year's Day 1965, ABC-TV televised a one-hour abridgement of the Lew Christensen-choreographed production of "Nutcracker" featuring San Francisco Ballet. In 1972, San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House was named the official residence of San Francisco Ballet. In 1973, Michael Smuin became co-artistic director of San Francisco Ballet with Lew Christensen; Smuin had danced with the Company from 1953 to 1961. Under his direction, the national and international profile of SF Ballet was raised significantly by
San Francisco Ballet end of 1975 with "Nutcracker" and has met with both audience and critical acclaim ever since, becoming known by the 1990s as one of the world's finest ballet orchestras. SFBO toured with the SF Ballet's touring company from 1978 until 1984. It has accompanied many prestigious international ballet companies that have toured to the San Francisco Bay Area, including The Royal Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Hamburg Ballet,the Bolshoi Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, and the Paris Opéra Ballet. In 1995, the orchestra took on the remarkable task of accompanying 13 international dance companies over