Countdown to China: the big day is here!

Getting ready to embark on our tour of the People's Republic of China

I am Robert Russo, San Francisco Ballet’s Company and Touring Manager—and if I do say so, I have the most fabulous job in the world! Each day I have the great pleasure to work side-by-side with the most incredible dancers anywhere. In addition to managing the day-to-day activities of our dancers, I am responsible for managing San Francisco Ballet’s touring both here in the U.S. and around the globe. This brings me to my very first post on Open Studio 455: SFB’s tour to the People’s Republic of China.

As I’m writing this, we are just about to board a bus to the airport to check-in for our 13-hour flight to Shanghai. This is SF Ballet’s first tour to the People’s Republic of China. We will be performing four performances at Shanghai’s Grand Theatre and three more at Beijing’s Poly Theatre.

Dancers Pauli Magierek and Lily Rogers in the lobby surrounded by bags

In the months and weeks leading up to this day, I’ve been hard at work, along with many of my colleagues at the Ballet, gearing up for this big tour. I thought I’d share with you one vital aspect of our tour prepartions: Chinese visas.

In order to travel and perform in the People’s Republic of China, we had to organize special visas for the entire touring company of over 100 people. This may sound like a simple task, but in fact, it took a team of four people—myself, Jane Shaffer and Evan Wagoner-Lynch (my trusted colleagues at SFB), and Margaret Leonetti (my long-time, wonderful BRAVO volunteer)—all of whom spent countless hours with me preparing documents, organizing photographs, proofing the applications, alphabetizing the Company’s passports, and getting everything ready for me to take to the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in San Francisco for processing. The visa process alone took over a month and seven different in-person visits to the Consulate. All of the dancers, artistic staff, technical crew, and administrators have their passports now, with their special Chinese visas.

I’m excited to share with you the news from China in the days and weeks ahead. Stay tuned to Open Studio 455—I’ll write more once we land in Shanghai and get the Company settled in.

Ciao, Robert

And we're off...Wish us luck!