As San Francisco Ballet celebrates its 75th season, we look at some of the dancers who shaped the company's rich history. The company will celebrate its alumni with a reunion weekend Friday through March 16.Jacqueline Martin
A native of Portland, Ore., Jacqueline Martin came to San Francisco as a young girl in 1935 with Willam Christensen, who had taken over the then San Francisco Opera Ballet's school. Martin quickly drew attention in classical roles, and when Willam Christensen staged America's first full-length "Swan Lake" in 1940, he chose her to dance Odette opposite Janet Reed's Odile. With little money and few men in the troupe as World War II began, performances decreased, and Martin left to marry and raise a family in Oregon. There she was director of the Portland Ballet School for 32 years and the founded the Portland Ballet Company. She retired at age 62.
Read profiles of Janet Sassoon, Virginia Johnson, Cynthia Gregory, Diana Meistrell, Simon Dow, Mikko Nissinen and Caroline Loyola at the SF Chronicle site.
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