Gina Ness

Photography: Gina Ness and Alexander Topciy in Airs de Ballet (1984). Photo by Marty Sohl

Gina Ness, a San Francisco native, received her early training with Merriem Lanova and Benjamin Reyes in San Francisco, performing and touring with Ballet Celeste. At 15, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at San Francisco Ballet School with Anatole Vilzak and Ludmilla Shollar. Ms. Ness also studied under scholarship at Harkness House in New York City with David Howard, Ben Stevenson, and Maria Vegh. She studied and performed with Marc Wilde (Marc Wilde Ballet), Richard Gibson (Peninsula Ballet), and Alan Howard (Pacific Ballet) before rejoining San Francisco Ballet as a full company member in 1972. Ms. Ness was promoted to soloist in 1973 and became a principal dancer in 1974. During her 13-year career at SFB, Ms. Ness was privileged to take classes from many wonderful guest instructors. She has studied with Erik Bruhn, Brian Shaw, and Terry Westmoreland to name just a few in addition to her directors, Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. She has danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Snow Queen, and the Rose in Lew Christensen’s The Nutcracker, Lise in Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee, and Cinderella in Lew Christensen’s and Michael Smuin’s Cinderella as well as principal roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Symphony in C, and Concerto Barocco. Ms. Ness has been on the faculty of Sonoma Ballet Conservatory for the past 13 years. She has also taught for Grace Doty in the East Bay and for Ruby Christensen in Mill Valley. Ms. Ness is currently on the faculty of Santa Rosa Dance Theater. Ms. Ness has served as a regisseur for Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. She is married to former SFB dancer Gardner Carlson.