San Francisco Ballet continued to serve as the school's director until his retirement in 1975. In 1938, the company's first major production was "Coppélia", choreographed by Willam Christensen. In 1940, it staged "Swan Lake", the first time that the ballet was produced in its entirety by an American company. On Christmas Eve 1944, the company staged "Nutcracker"—the first complete production of Tchaikovsky's most popular piece ever danced in the United States. In 1942, San Francisco Opera Ballet split into two independent companies, ballet and opera. The ballet half was sold to Willam and Harold Christensen. Willam became artistic director, while Harold took on
Soundwave Festival (San Francisco) Soundwave Festival (San Francisco) Soundwave Biennial Festival (formerly called the Soundwave Series) is a sound, art, and music festival that happens every two years for two months in San Francisco. Soundwave is produced by the 501(c)3 non-profit Mediate Art Group. The festival features diverse local and international multimedia artists working with sound including noise artists, sound artists, improvisers, experimental musicians, composers, avant-garde musicians, vocalists, electroacoustic musicians, classical musicians and rock musicians. The festival focuses on new and unusual performances and art works, often in untraditional environments. Soundwave primarily showcases "sound art," but also explores disciplines such as media art, performance