Principal Dancer, San Francisco Ballet
As a Principal Dancer with San Francisco Ballet, Tiit Helimets has danced major roles in Tomasson’s Giselle (Albrecht), Nutcracker (Grand Pas de Deux Prince), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Desiré), and Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried and Von Rothbart); Tomasson/Possokhov’s Don Quixote (Basilio); Cranko’s Onegin (Gremin); Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid (Prince, Poet); Scarlett’s Frankenstein (Alphonse Frankenstein); and Wheeldon’s Cinderella (Prince Guillaume). He created principal roles in Caniparoli’s Doublestop, Ibsen’s House, and Tears; King’s The Collective Agreement; Liang’s The Infinite Ocean; Possokhov’s Swimmer (Humbert); and Wheeldon’s Ghosts.
His repertory also includes Ashton’s Symphonic Variations; Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, Allegro Brillante, Diamonds, Divertimento No. 15, The Four Temperaments, Scotch Symphony, Serenade, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, and Symphony in C; Bintley’s The Dance House; Bubeníček’s Gentle Memories; Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated; Liang’s Symphonic Dances; Lifar’s Suite en Blanc; MacMillan’s Winter Dreams; van Manen’s Variations for Two Couples; McGregor’s Borderlands, Chroma, and Eden/Eden; Millepied’s The Chairman Dances—Quartet for Two; Nureyev’s Raymonda—Act III; Possokhov’s Firebird and Magrittomania; Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons, Seven Sonatas, and Shostakovich Trilogy; Robbins’ Glass Pieces and In the Night; Tomasson’s 7 for Eight, The Fifth Season, On a Theme of Paganini, Prism, and Trio; and Wheeldon’s Continuum.
Before joining San Francisco Ballet, Tiit was a Principal Dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Estonian National Ballet. Tiit made history in Estonia by being the youngest male dancer ever to perform the role of Siegfried in Swan Lake.
In 2011 Tiit formed a touring company Helimets and Co, in 2012 he created a dance/music installation at the de Young Museum, and in 2013 he produced Estonian National Ballet’s San Francisco tour. He received an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Performance for his 2015 performances of Giselle and the Award for Outstanding Performance in Estonia for guest appearances in The Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet.
