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Yuanyuan Tan

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Template:Chinese name

Yuan Yuan Tan
Born
谭元元

Shanghai, China
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Career
Current groupSan Francisco Ballet
Yuan Yuan Tan poster in front of San Francisco City Hall.
Yuan Yuan Tan after diving into Lilacs.

Yuan Yuan Tan (Chinese: 谭元元; born 1977, Shanghai, China) is a Chinese ballerina. She is the prima ballerina of San Francisco Ballet where she holds the position of principal dancer.[1][2]

She entered Shanghai Dance School at the age of 11. Initially her father opposed this, as he wanted her to become a medical doctor or engineer. 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.[3]

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.[4] She was at that time the youngest principal dancer ever in the history of the San Francisco Ballet 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, the "best company in North America".[5]

She has danced lead female roles in Helgi Tomasson's Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Nutcracker, 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.[6]

She has been featured in Vogue, Esquire, ELLE, Numéro, and Tatler. Currently she is also a brand ambassador for Rosewood Hotels, Van Cleef & Arpels and Rolex.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "The Little Mermaid from San Francisco Ballet | About the Program | Great Performances | PBS". Great Performances. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  2. ^ "San Francisco Ballet - Dancer". www.sfballet.org. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  3. ^ "The Perfect Poise of Tan Yuan Yuan" CNN, June 25, 2008.
  4. ^ "SF Ballet" SF Ballet Dancer Page
  5. ^ "San Francisco Chronicle Jan 08, 2005" SF Chronicle
  6. ^ "Yuanyuan Tan" HK Ballet Guest Principal Dancer
  7. ^ "A Pirouette Through China's Capital With Tan Yuan Yuan". Rosewood Hotels and Resorts. 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  8. ^ Sulcas, Roslyn; Cooper, Michael (2013-11-20). "Ballet Dancers as Brands". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
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