Lowkey Artist Talk with San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo

Join us for afternoon Lowkey Artist talks at Manny’s with culture maven Kevin Smokler. We will engage guests from a plethora of artistic backgrounds in an insightful and memorable conversation around the process of creating and living as an Artist in our modern world.

Our first guest is SF Ballet's Artistic Director Tamara Rojo.

These conversations are designed for guests to share their philosophies and routines in an intimate and comfortable setting.

BIO

Tamara Rojo was appointed Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet in 2022. Still early in her tenure in San Francisco, she has already commissioned two world premieres, added new works to the repertoire, instituted choreographic and professional development opportunities for the company, expanded audiences, and secured a transformational $60 million gift. She is the first woman to lead the company and only the fifth Artistic Director of SF Ballet since the company was founded in 1933. Before coming to San Francisco, Rojo served as Artistic Director and Lead Principal of London’s English National Ballet (ENB) for nine and a half years, where she brought groundbreaking programming, garnered the company critical accolades, and spearheaded a successful £50-million capital campaign to create a new headquarters for the company that opened in 2019.

Rojo danced as a professional ballerina for 30 years, beginning her career at Ballet de la Comunidad de Madrid and dancing principal roles with Scottish Ballet and English National Ballet in the 1990s, followed by a decade as a principal with the Royal Ballet. In 2012, she was named Artistic Director of English National Ballet while continuing to dance as a lead principal with the company. Her acclaimed repertoire includes lead roles in full-length ballet classics, roles originated for her, works by Balanchine, Robbins, MacMillan, and more. In 2022, Rojo made her debut as a director and choreographer with a new interpretation of Raymonda inspired by the story of Florence Nightingale.

Raised in Madrid, Rojo received her bachelor’s degree in Dance/Choreography at the Real Conservatorio de Danza Mariemma and received a Master’s in Theatrical Arts as well as a doctorate from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid. She has received Spain’s three highest honors: the Gold Medal of Fine Arts (2002), Prince of Asturias Arts Award (2005), Encomienda de Numero Queen Isabel La Católica (2011); the Kennedy Center Gold Medal for Fine Arts (2012); the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for distinguished services to ballet (2016); and two Olivier Awards, one for Best New Dance Production in 2010 for the Brandstrup-Rojo Project, and one for Best Achievement in Dance in 2017 for ENB’s repertoire. She is a 2021 Dance Magazine Award honoree and received the 2022 South Bank Sky Awards Outstanding Achievement Award for her near-decade of leadership at ENB.

Kevin Smokler is a writer, documentary filmmaker and event host focused on our relationship as human beings with pop culture. His most recent book BREAK THE FRAME: CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN FILMMAKERS contains 24 career-retrospective conversations with directors behind box office phenomenon like Captain Marvel, Oscar winners like Free Solo and the filmmakers who launched actors such as America Ferrera, Paul Rudd, Ryan Gosling and Jennifer Lawrence. His previous books, BRAT PACK AMERICA is a love letter to teen movies of the 1980s. His 2013 essay collection PRACTICAL CLASSICS is a 50 book attempt to reread one’s high school reading list as an adult.

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