RAkU (ballet) RAkU (ballet) RAkU is a 37-minute ballet choreographed by Yuri Possokhov that was commissioned by San Francisco Ballet (Possokhov's 13th work for the company) and set to original music composed by Shinji Eshima. The première took place on Thursday, 3 February 2011 at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco. Program notes for the ballet stated: "Based on the true story of the burning of Kyoto’s Golden Pavilion in 1950, "RAkU" is set in a much earlier time and in a style similar to "Noh" theater, which presents the essence of a story rather than a literal depiction... Despite its
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