The San Francisco Conservatory of Dance was established in 2004 by veteran dancer/teacher Summer Lee Rhatigan and a team of collaborators whose principal goal was to create a new kind of dance school specifically designed to guide and support young people in their discovery, understanding, development, and application of the tools necessary to thrive as an artist.
In dance, as in all art forms, technique serves merely as the springboard for the cultivation of artistry. To become an artist, one must become fluent and articulate in the language of the art form, generate new and interesting ideas, and then share those ideas with others—honestly, confidently, and without inhibition.
The Conservatory is structured on the belief that the best way to develop young dance artists is to establish a trusting environment in which highly motivated students come together with highly accomplished artists—dancers, choreographers and musicians—to give of themselves generously, share and respect one another’s points of view, develop skills in the language of dance, experiment freely, collaborate in the creation of new works of dance, and study works of some of the world’s most distinguished contemporary choreographers.
Technique classes at the Conservatory are designed to insure that every student receives ample individualized attention. Students work intimately with professional choreographers on the creation of new works, and also enjoy the rare privilege of learning the pedagogy and existing choreography of such celebrated choreographers as Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe and Ohad Naharin, as taught by their personal emissaries. Students have the opportunity to perform in informal student showcases and more formal theater performances.
The mission of the Conservatory is to provide excellent training in classical ballet, contemporary dance and choreographic composition while fostering the fascination and passion that are essential components of artistic development and the life-long pursuit of the artist to give of one’s self without fear.
Key to the success of any school is the composition of its faculty. The Conservatory’s outstanding faculty is composed of experienced dancers with proven teaching skills, acclaimed choreographers, and fine musicians.
Former Conservatory students are currently dancing, or have danced, with the following companies: Ailey II, Alma Esperanza Cunningham Movement, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Ballet Met, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, Ballet Pacifica, Ballet West, Ballet West II, Baltimore Opera Ballet, Bodiography Contemporary Ballet, Boston Ballet II, Chattanooga Ballet, Company C, Complexions, DanceWorks Chicago, Dandelion Dancetheater, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Hope Mohr Dance, Houston Ballet II, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago II, Inland Pacific Ballet, James Sewell Ballet, Janice Garrett & Dancers, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Los Angeles Ballet, Lines Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Mark Foehringer Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Miami City Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet 2, Morphosis/The Wheeldon Company, Movin’ Out (Musical Touring Company), Nashville Ballet, Nashville Ballet II, Nevada Ballet Theater, New Chamber Ballet, NWPDP Company, ODC Dance, Oregon Ballet Theater, Peninsula Ballet Theater, Robert Moses’ KIN, Royal Danish Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, San Antonio Ballet Company, San Diego Opera Ballet, San Francisco Opera Ballet, Shift >>> Physical Theater, St. Louis Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, Texas Dance Theater, The Foundry, The Metropolitan Opera, Tilt Dance Company, and Utah Regional Ballet. A number of other former students are actively teaching or choreographing in dance schools across the country, while others are working in various arts administration positions.
Our Student Body
Students come to the Conservatory with various objectives. While many aspire to either dance, choreograph or teach professionally, others are interested in pursuing arts production or management careers or simply wish to continue their dance education for personal enrichment.
The Conservatory’s student body consists of advanced dancers admitted through auditions. During the fall and spring semesters our students are within the age range of 17 through 23, and are either concurrently enrolled in Bay Area colleges (U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University, San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco, St. Mary’s College, and City College of San Francisco), or have completed or taken leave from their academic studies.
Students in our Summer Intensive Program, ages 14 through 23, come to us from dance schools all over the United States and from the college dance programs of such institutions as University of California Irvine, California Institute of the Arts, The Juilliard School, Ailey/Fordham University, Cornish College of the Arts, Boston Conservatory, State University of New York Purchase, University of Arizona, and University of Utah, among many others. Participants often include apprentices and young professional dancers on summer leave who recognize the program’s potential to help them further advance their technical and artistic development.
See Bulletins for dance-related news about current students and alumni.
Preparing Students for the Future
Our curriculum offers students the opportunity to build a solid foundation from which to pursue a career as dancer, choreographer, teacher, or dance arts administrator. It is our objective to help students develop collaborative skills and work habits that are transferable to other facets of their lives.
Those of our students ready to audition for professional companies have the benefit of guidance and coaching from a very experienced director and faculty who have personal relationships with many company directors, ballet masters/mistresses and choreographers across the United States and abroad.
We are well-equipped to assist graduating high school students who wish to pursue their formal education at college or university. Having taught at numerous university dance programs across the U.S., and through our relationships with the teachers and directors of many leading B.F.A. programs, our faculty is uniquely qualified to help students identify programs in which they may best flourish.
Our Studios
The Conservatory’s studios are centrally-located at 301 Eighth Street in San Francisco’s SOMA (South of Market) district, on the light-filled second floor of a very well maintained building, readily accessible by public transportation or by car.
Historical Background
The founding director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Summer Lee Rhatigan, trained at London’s Royal Ballet School and pursued a very rewarding, twenty-two year performing career with London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), Oakland Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Lines Ballet, and San Francisco Opera Ballet. She enjoyed the benefits of learning from an outstanding array of teachers and working with such celebrated choreographers as Sir Frederick Ashton, Nicholas (Papa) Beriosov, John Butler, Agnes de Mille, Ronald Hynd, Kenneth MacMillan, Léonide Massine, Robert North, Rudolf Nureyev, Mary Skeaping, Anna Sokolov, Ben Stevenson, and Glen Tetley, among many others. See Curriculum Vitae for more detailed information.
Summer has also been teaching for well over twenty years at dance schools, universities and professional dance companies across the United States and abroad.
Summer’s various collaborators, who comprise the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, bring a wealth of additional skills from a wide variety of backgrounds.