San Francisco Ballet and Juliet" (1994); "Giselle" (1999); "Don Quixote", co-staged with former principal dancer and current choreographer in residence Yuri Possokhov (2003); and "Nutcracker" (2004). Tomasson's "Nutcracker", set in San Francisco during the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, is notable for being the only uniquely San Francisco "Nutcracker". It features sets (including "a backdrop of San Francisco's Victorian houses known as 'painted ladies) and costumes created by, respectively, Michael Yeargan and Martin Pakledinaz, both repeat Tony Award-winning designers. Upon its premiere, "The New York Times" called Tomasson's "Nutcracker" "striking, elegant and beautiful". Today, San Francisco Ballet presents approximately 100 performances each year.
San Francisco Ballet the space of a single week in the UNited We Dance Festival. The 49-member orchestra accompanies SF Ballet throughout its winter and spring repertory seasons. It also performs apart from the Company; it debuted solely as an orchestra in 1979 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco's War Memorial Veterans Building, playing a program that included works by Haydn, Ives, and Vivaldi. The SFBO is composed of 49 members and headed by Martin West, music director and conductor. As of October 2013, the musicians and staff included: The orchestra was led by Denis de Coteau from 1975 until 1998, when