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
San Francisco Bay arrived at a large arm of what is now called Drakes Bay. At the time, Drakes Bay went by the name "Bahia de San Francisco" and thus both bodies of water became associated with the name. Eventually, the larger, more important body of water fully appropriated the name "San Francisco Bay". The first European to enter the bay is believed to have been the Spanish explorer Juan de Ayala, who passed through the Golden Gate on August 5, 1775 in his ship the "San Carlos", and moored in a bay of Angel Island now known as Ayala Cove. Ayala continued