San Francisco Ballet the Edinburgh Playhouse (1997, 2003). In fall 2009, San Francisco Ballet made its first trip to the People's Republic of China, with performances in Shanghai and Beijing. In 2012, San Francisco Ballet embarked on the longest tour in the company's history, with engagements in London and Washington, DC, as well as first-time visits to Hamburg, Germany; Moscow; and Sun Valley, Idaho. In 1978, San Francisco Ballet's Michael Smuin-directed production of "Romeo and Juliet" became the first production by a West Coast ballet company, and the first full-length ballet, to be aired by the PBS "Great Performances: Dance in America" television
Ballet San Jose 2006 shortened its name to simply Ballet San Jose. In 2003 the company gained benefactor and current chairman of the board John Fry, co-founder of Fry's Electronics.with a 1 million dollar contribution. Fry helped the company survive the dot-com crash and continued to support the company until he closed it in 2016. Over the years Fry became personally involved and Ballet San Jose faced increasing Fry's support, prompting Karen Loewenstern, founding board chair of Cleveland San Jose Ballet to say "...he bought himself a ballet company." By 2007, still lead by founding artistic director, Dennis Nahat, there was a resident