San Francisco Ballet from American popular culture, Harold and Lew joined George Balanchine's new company, American Ballet, in 1935. In 1932, Willam formed a ballet school in Portland, Oregon; in 1937, he was engaged as principal male soloist by San Francisco Opera Ballet. He became the company's ballet master and choreographer in 1938. With his brother Harold, he purchased the company from the Opera in 1942, renaming it San Francisco Ballet. In 1951, Willam retired as director of SF Ballet and moved to Utah, where he started teaching ballet in the country’s first university ballet department at the University of Utah. With a
Ballet San Jose Upon the closure of the company, the school is now its own entity, The New Ballet School. It is an American Ballet Theater Certified School run under the direction of former Cleveland San Jose Ballet dancer, executive director, Dalia Rawson. Ballet San Jose Ballet San Jose was a ballet company based in San Jose, California, US, operating from 1985 to 2016. The company was founded in 1985 as the "San Jose Cleveland Ballet," a co-venture with the ten-year-old Cleveland Ballet which offered to the dancers added performing exposure, and each city a ballet company for a moderate, shared investment. In