Onsite Exhibition - Helgi Tomasson: 37 years of artistry

The Museum of Performance + Design (MP+D) celebrates the storied career of SF Ballet Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson, the company’s longest-serving sole artistic director with our onsite exhibit, Helgi Tomasson: 37 Years of Artistry.

This exhibit is an updated version of MP+D’s earlier exhibit celebrating Tomasson’s 35th anniversary, which opened briefly in March 2020 (virtual version of this exhibit available), and coincides with MP+D and SF Ballet’s joint offsite exhibition, Celebrating Helgi Tomasson: Innovating the Classical, on display at the War Memorial Opera House until May 8, 2022.

During his tenure, Tomasson has choreographed more than 50 works, including five full-length ballets, the most by any company director in SF Ballet's history. The exhibit looks back at Tomasson's works for the company, highlighting his full-length productions -- Swan Lake (1988), The Sleeping Beauty (1990), Romeo & Juliet (1994), Giselle (1999), and Nutcracker (2004) -- and includes posters, original photographs, original designs, programs, and video from the San Francisco Ballet Archives and MP+D’s holdings.

The exhibition is open free to the public Tuesday - Friday from 1pm - 6pm and the first Saturday of each month from 1pm - 5pm through September 15, 2022.

Photo credit: San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson // © Erik Tomasson