OAKLAND BAY AREA AMERICAN BALLERINA, ANGELA WATSON, TAKES FLIGHT ON INTERNATIONAL JOURNEY WITH SAN FRANCISCO BALLET

Ballet is a timeless art form that has captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. From the ethereal movements of the dancers to the enchanting music and mesmerizing storytelling, ballet offers a sensory experience like no other. San Francisco Ballet is presented in a carefully curated list of the top ballet companies from around the world, showcasing their excellence in the realm of dance. Together with San Francisco Ballet, topping the list of the world’s most renowned and prestigious classical ballet companies include The Royal Ballet of London, Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow Russia, American Ballet Theatre NY, Paris Opera Ballet France, and The Dance Theatre of Harlem NY.

In our very own Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area community, we recognize the gift of a young emerging new future of ballet, Angela Watson, who has gone through a journey of expert training as a Student Scholar of these distinguished world celebrated organizations and now she represents the pinnacle of excellence in the world of dance, osculating the technical skill and grace of each. We can envision the trajectory of her career as a world-renowned international ballerina as she takes her first international performance tour to Madrid, Spain this October at the Teatro Real as company member of San Francisco Ballet to perform the iconic Swan Lake Ballet choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, former artistic director and international choreographer with authentic individual aesthetics. Her tour follows her performance of Swan Lake’s Odette Variation Act II for a special celebrity birthday party at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco.

Watson, a native of Oakland, California, having a rich history in ballet, began her dance training at Oakland School for the Arts, School of Dance under the direction of Reginald Ray Savage and Alison Hurley at the age of 12. As a prodigy, she went on to receive a full artistic scholarship to train with San Francisco Ballet School as a David Palmer Student Scholar at age 13 after just one year of training. As the oldest ballet school and company in the U.S., SF Ballet blends tradition with contemporary creativity and tops the list of 25 distinguished companies from around the globe, showcasing their excellence in the realm of dance. Immediately following Watson’s admission to SF Ballet School, she was cast as the young Princess Clara in the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker and was the first African American ballerina to dance the role in over 3 decades and the only African American to dance this most coveted role for two consecutive seasons in the history of the company. Watson went on to receive numerous awards and scholarships including the YAGP Scholar Award to train with Bolshoi Ballet Academy, the Anthony Quinn Arts Foundation Award to train with American Ballet Theatre and the American Friends of the Paris Opera and Ballet International Award to train in France with the Paris Opera Ballet School. She also spent a summer in an intensive training program with the Royal Ballet of London and has been mentored by the former principal ballerina of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Karlya Shelton-Benjamine as well as other principals from DTH such as Judy Tyrus and Karen Brown. Angela is a 2021 National YoungArts Foundation Scholar.

A short five years later, Watson was hand selected to become a member of the coveted 12-member International Trainee Program and a Tomasson Choreographic Fellow in 2021 and then offered a promotion in 2022 as a company apprentice. Watson joined the corps de ballet in 2023 under the tutelage of the new Artistic Director Tamara Rojo. Watson’s meteoric rise within the company continues for the 2024/2025 season as she begins with her first international tour with one of the most preeminent ballet companies in the world to perform the iconic Swan Lake October 15-22 at the Teatro Real Madrid. The Teatro Real is home to the Royal Opera of Madrid located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace. It is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts in the country and one of the most prestigious opera houses in Europe. The ground breaking of the Teatro Real was on April 23, 1818 under the reign of King Ferdinand VII and it was formally opened by his daughter Queen Isabella II on November 19, 1850. Madrid, Spain is the homeland of SF Ballet artistic director Tamara Rojo, the first female artistic director in the lush history of the 90 year old SF Ballet company.

Watson’s repertoire with San Francisco Ballet includes Tomasson’s Nutcracker (as Clara, Snowflake, Flower, Spanish Dancer and Mirliton), Don Quixote (as Seguidilla, and Driad), Giselle (as Peasant and Wilis), Romeo & Juliet(as Juliet’s Friend and Citizens of Verona) and in Swan Lake (as the Czardas Princess, Pas de Trois, Cygnettes, Swan ensemble, and Peasants), ??in Balanchine’s Symphony in C (2nd & 4th movements, Finalé corps), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (as Butterflies ensemble, Fairies ensemble, Hounds ensemble, Court Women corps de ballet), in Barton’s Mere Mortals (world premiere originated ensemble), Bournonville’s La Sylphide (Sylphs), Garland’s Haffner Serenade (world premiere originated ensemble couple), Lopez Ochoa’s Broken Wings (SF Ballet premiere Birds, and Leaf Ladies ensemble), MacMillan’s Song of the Earth (SF Ballet premiere ensemble), Oishi’s BOLERO (world premiere, originated ensemble), Possokhov’s Violin Concerto (world premiere originated ensemble couple), Rowe’s MADCAP(world premiere originated OomPahPah), Smith’s Carmen (world premiere, originated Lopia), Thatcher’s COLORFORMS (deferred), and Wheeldon’s Cinderella (Spring ensemble, Autumn ensemble, and Courtiers corps de ballet).

Watson made VIP guest performer appearances with the East Bay Dances Festival hosted by Oakland Ballet Company with Savage Jazz Dance Company, San Francisco Dance Film Festival and the Oakland Ballet Company/Life in Motion Production’s 2023 Premiere of the film Flower produced by and starring legendary international ballerina Misty Copeland where Watson performed the solo variation of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker choreographed by Graham Lustig, OBC Artistic Director. She has been a featured artist on multiple television networks and hosted the globally streamed 2024 World Ballet Day event. As a local artist, she is also a frequent guest M.C. for SF Ballet’s annual Bay Area School-Time Performances and other Bay Area Dance In Schools & Communities (DISC) events for children. Watson performed in the special feature program for the fourth annual Starry Nights performance presented in collaboration with the Stanford Live Arts Festival at Frost Amphitheater with SF Ballet in summer 2023 (in Possokhov’s Violin Concerto) and again in summer 2024 performing in SF Ballet’s premiere of van Manen’s 5 Tango’s.?

In addition to her international tour to Spain, Watson’s upcoming performances in the 2025 SF Ballet season at the SF War Memorial Opera House, a gem in the SF’s architectural crown, include Tomasson’s Nutcracker Ballet December 6-29, MacMillan’s Manon (SF Ballet premiere) January 24-February 1, from the Cool Britannia Program: Wheeldon’s Within The Golden Hour and Khan’s Dust (SF Ballet premiere) February 13-19, Rojo’s legendary ballet reimagined Raymonda (SF Ballet premiere) March 1-8, Scharlett’s Frankenstein March 20-26, from the Van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster Program: 5 Tango’s (SF Ballet premiere) April 5-19, from the Broken Love Program: Lopez Ochoa’s critically acclaimed Broken Wings (the colorful world of Frida Kahlo) April 8-18, and Frankenstein Encore April 26-May 4. Single performance and preferred packages along with additional information about the Madrid, Spain tour and the 2025 season are available at www.sfballet.org.