Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor —

Most established ballet companies also operate affiliated ballet schools, and now Ballet San Antonio will have one as well. The company just announced the formation of a training program to be led by Sofiane Sylve, a French-born ballerina who has been a principal dancer of San Francisco Ballet since 2008.

“Sofiane Sylve is a world-class talent. Her notable accomplishments on stage as an artist and in the studio as a teacher are top notch, and will be a tremendous asset to San Antonio and key to elevating Ballet San Antonio to the next level, regionally, nationally and internationally,” said BSA’s executive director Evin Nicole Eubanks in the press release. Scheduled to open in September, the new school will start registering students in April.

Sylve will also serve as artistic adviser to the ballet company, starting with the 2020-21 season, which is about to be announced.

Ballet San Antonio was founded in 1985 as Texas Ballet Concerto by Mayra Worthen who served as the company’s artistic director for 27 years. The name was changed in 1991 to better reflect the connection and commitment to San Antonio. Things started changing in 2011, when a new team took over and the season was substantially expanded. In 2014, BSA became a resident company at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts where it still performs. It now stages three major productions per season plus a free showcase Ballet in the Park.

Getting Sylve on board is a major step forward for the company. She has had a stellar career in dance that took her from her native Nice in the South of France – where she started taking classes at the age of 4 – to the Dutch National Ballet, the New York City Ballet and, ultimately, to the San Francisco Ballet, where she also teaches at the company school.

 Famous choreographers have sung her praises as an exceptionally gifted and technically “phenomenal” dancer. According to an article in Dance magazine, choreographer William Forsythe said: “She’s freaky (laughing). She was a prodigy – we all knew that.” The article goes on to explain how indefatigable and ready for any challenge she has been throughout her career. In addition to Forsythe, her bio lists the names of other illustrious choreographers she has worked with, or appeared in their works, over the years, and it’s an impressive list that includes Christopher Wheeldon, John Cranko, Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine and, of course, Helgi Tomasson, the artistic director of the San Francisco ballet.

This summer, BSA will offer a “summer intensive” program taught by Sylve and guest teachers Jeffrey Lyons from the San Francisco Ballet School, and Veronika Part from the Atlanta Ballet. Registration for that is open at balletsanantonio.org/summer-intensive.