Dance in California

California is rich in dance history. In classical ballet, California is home to the oldest professional ballet company in the United States. The San Francisco Ballet, founded as the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1933, predates both American Ballet Theater and New York City ballet. Barbara Crockett founded the Sacramento Ballet in 1954 and hosted the first festival for the Pacific Western Region of Regional Dance America in 1966. In modern dance, Ruth St. Denis established her second school in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles in 1940 while Lester Horton created the Horton Dance Group in 1934, also in Los Angeles. Ann Halprin founded the San Francisco Dancers’ Workshop in 1950 and continues to live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area in also home to Alonzo King's Lines Ballet and Oberlin Dance Collective.

Contents

• 1910 1920
• 1920 1930
• 1930 1940
• 1940 1950
• 1950 1960
• 1960 1970
• 1970 1980
• 1980 1990
• San Francisco
• Greater Bay Area
• North San Joaquin Valley
• Northern Sierra Foothills
• Northern California
• Southern California
• RDA Regional Dance America Members
• Degree Programs
• Native Dancers
• References