Yuan Yuan Tan
Encyclopedia
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
. She entered Shanghai Dance School at the age of 11. Initially her father opposed this, as he wanted her to become a medical doctor. Her mother, however, was very supportive. Her fate was settled by a coin toss - the coin landed on heads and Yuan Yuan Tan started her dancing career.
She won multiple international awards at an early age; including a gold medal and the Nijinsky Award at the 1st Japan International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition (1993) and a gold medal in the 5th International Ballet Competition in Paris (1992). At age 18, she became a soloist dancer with the San Francisco Ballet Company. Two years later, in 1997, at age 20, she was promoted to principal dancer, attaining the highest position for a ballet dancer, an unusually rapid upward path. She was at that time the youngest principal dancer ever in the history of the San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
company. Today, she is a marquee name for the company, while San Francisco Ballet Company itself is widely considered to be among the best in the world and in the words of choreographer Mark Morris
Mark Morris
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
, the "best company in North America".
She has danced lead female roles in Helgi Tomasson's Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
, Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
, Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, Nutcracker
Nutcracker
A nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts. Usually they work on the principle of moments as described in Archimedes' analysis of the lever...
, Tomasson/Possokhov's Don Quixote, Morris' Sylvia, and Lubovitch's Othello. She created roles in Tomasson's The Fifth Season, Chi-Lin, Silver Ladders, and 7 for Eight, Possokhov's Magrittomania, Damned, and Study in Motion, Wheeldon's Continuum and Quaternary, and Welch's Tu Tu. Her repertory includes Ashton's Thaïs Pas de Deux, Balanchine's Symphony in C, Theme and Variations, Concerto Barocco, Prodigal Son, and Apollo, Duato's Without Words, Robbins' In the Night, Dances at a Gathering, and Dybbuk, and Makarova's Paquita
Paquita
Paquita is a ballet in two acts and three scenes, with libretto by Joseph Mazilier and Paul Foucher. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Edouard Deldevez. First presented by at the Salle Le Peletier by the Paris Opera Ballet on 1 April 1846...
.
Her fame is much greater in China, as she is the most critically acclaimed Chinese ballet dancer ever, and the only Chinese ballet dancer to reach the rank of principal dancer at a major international ballet company. She has been featured in the Chinese versions of Vogue, Esquire, and Tatler. Currently she is also a brand ambassador for Van Cleef & Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels is a French jewellery, watch, and perfume company that was founded in 1896 by Charles Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef. They opened their first boutique in 1906 at 22 place Vendôme, Paris...
and Rolex
Rolex
Rolex SA is a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer of high-quality, luxury wristwatches. Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols and BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex No.71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands...
.