Born in Renton, Washington, Val Caniparoli is a renowned choreographer who has made significant contributions to the fields of ballet, theatre, opera, symphony, film, and television. He studied music and theatre at Washington State University and later received a scholarship from the Ford Foundation to attend the San Francisco Ballet School, where he began his dance career. After performing with the San Francisco Opera Ballet, Caniparoli joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1973 and has since created over 200 works for various institutions around the world.
Caniparoli’s work has been featured by more than 60 dance companies, including Finnish National Ballet, BalletMet, Joffrey Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Ballet West, Washington Ballet, Israel Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet. He has choreographed operas for The Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and San Francisco Opera and worked with the San Francisco Symphony on numerous productions. Caniparoli has received a plethora of awards throughout his career, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Choo-San Goh Award, and the Isadora Duncan Award, among others. Despite his longstanding contributions to the world of dance, Val Caniparoli continues to choreograph new works and serves as a Principal Character Dancer for the San Francisco Ballet.
