Nijinsky Tours to San Francisco; Principal Casting Annouced

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the principal casting for the upcoming tour of John Neumeier's Nijinsky to San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, April 3 - 8, 2018. Part of San Francisco Ballet's 2017/18 season, this will be the company's return to the Bay Area for the first time in 10 years. The National Ballet's appearance is part of a unique reciprocal agreement between the two companies and San Francisco Ballet will tour to Toronto to perform in an upcoming season.

The National Ballet recently toured Nijinsky to Paris and performed the ballet in Toronto and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa to standing ovations and critical acclaim.

The opening night on April 3 will feature Principal Dancers Guillaume Côté as Vaslav Nijinsky, Heather Ogden as Romola Nijinsky and Second Soloist Ben Rudisin as Serge Diaghilev.

First Soloists Skylar Campbell and Francesco Gabriele Frola will dance the lead role of Vaslav Nijinsky in later performances. The role of Romola Nijinsky will be danced by Principal Dancers Sonia Rodriguez, Svetlana Lunkina and Xiao Nan Yu. Principal Dancer Piotr Stanczyk will perform the role of Serge Diaghilev.

Mr. Neumeier's moving ballet takes the audience on a journey into the life of one of the most legendary figures in the history of ballet, Vaslav Nijinsky. Revered for his spellbinding stage presence and innovative choreography, the partly biographical ballet explores Nijinsky's art, relationships and identity.

Principal Casting

Vaslav Nijinsky

Guillaume Côté (April 3 at 7:30 pm/April 6 at 8:00 pm /April 8 at 2:00 pm)

Skylar Campbell (April 4 at 7:30 pm/April 7 at 2:00 pm)

Francesco Gabriele Frola (April 5 at 7:30 pm/April 7 at 8:00 pm)

Romola Nijinsky

Heather Ogden (April 3 at 7:30 pm/April 8 at 2:00 pm)

Sonia Rodriguez (April 4 at 7:30 pm/April 7 at 2:00 pm)

Svetlana Lunkina (April 5 at 7:30 pm/April 7 at 8:00 pm)

Xiao Nan Yu (April 6 at 8:00 pm)

Serge Diaghilev

Ben Rudisin (April 3 at 7:30 pm/April 6 at 8:00 pm/April 8 at 2:00 pm)

Piotr Stanczyk (April 4, 5 at 7:30 pm/April 7 at 2:00 pm/April 7 at 8:00 pm)

All casting is subject to change.

Photo: Heather Ogden and Guillaume Côté in Nijinsky. Photo by Bruce Zinger.