Yuan Yuan Tan was born in Shanghai, China, and trained at Shanghai Dancing School and Stuttgart’s John Cranko School. She joined San Francisco Ballet as a soloist in 1995 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1997. She was appointed Richard C. Barker Principal Dancer in 2012.
“Tan seems to operate on a different plane of existence, one with different laws of gravity, with her long-limbed extensions and the way her torso remains calm even as she is being flipped around.”—Bachtrack
When Yuan Yuan Tan was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1997, she made history as the youngest dancer to achieve this rank in the Company’s history. Tan’s repertory at SF Ballet is extensive. She has originated principal roles in many of previous Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson’s ballets, including 7 for Eight, Caprice, Chi-Lin, The Fifth Season, Pandora Dance, and Silver Ladders. Visiting choreographers including Edwaard Liang, Mark Morris, Yuri Possokhov, Liam Scarlett, Stanton Welch, and Christopher Wheeldon have also created roles on her.
Tan has guested at the world’s top companies, galas, competitions, and festivals. She has also organized tours performing to sold out audiences abroad. She has been featured in PBS’ Great Performances broadcasts of both Tomasson’s Nutcracker and John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, as the Queen of Snow and the Mermaid, respectively.
Throughout her 28-year career at SF Ballet, Tan has garnered many awards and accolades, including being named one of Time’s “20 people under 40” considered heroes from Asia, and receiving the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award, the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement, Critics’ Circle nation Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance, and an award from Dance Magazine.
In 2018, Tan’s inspiring story of perseverance was featured in Chelsea Clinton’s bestselling children’s book She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History. Tan received SF Ballet’s inaugural Silver Artists Society award in 2022, recognizing her 27th year anniversary with the Company.
In Yuan Yuan’s own words:
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT AS A DANCER? WHY?
On tour with SF Ballet in Shanghai and Beijing for my 20th anniversary with the Company. I started my career as a ballet student in Shanghai, so I felt like it had come full circle when I performed again on this momentous occasion, in my home country.
What WOULD YOU SAY TO A YOUNG GIRL WANTING TO BE A BALLERINA?
It is not an easy road You have to really love it because once you become a professional dancer, you cannot treat it like a job. No 9 to 5. It’s an art that you will have dedicated your life to, it will always be with you. If you want to really be a ballerina, don’t give up. And if you do become a professional ballerina you are very lucky!
WHAT’S YOUR PERFECT DAY?
Class, rehearsals, a great performance, and dinner with friends and family to celebrate after the show.
IF YOU WEREN’T A DANCER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
A fashion designer.