Dear Fans and Friends,
My name is Tiit Helimets. I am a native of Estonia and have been a Principal Dancer with the San Francisco Ballet for six years. This summer I was given an amazing opportunity to do a ballet tour to Estonia, my home country. Going under the name of Tiit Helimets and Co., we are performing the works of two of the greatest American choreographers of our time, George Balanchine and Val Caniparoli, as well as excerpts from ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton and Marius Petipa.
This idea started when the Director of the Estonian National Ballet approached me and proposed that if I could organize a group of professional dancers from America to perform the works of great American choreographers, he would let us perform in the Estonian National Opera House for free. This seemed like an amazing opportunity that I could not waste.
A prospect like this would allow me to choose dancers whom I admire because of their incredible physique, technique, and acting skills. Seeing these wonderful dancers would be an eye-opening experience for Estonian ballet audiences. It is a way for me to give back to my community and broaden the experiences of my fellow dancers.
We are hoping to capture this entire event on camera and have it made into a documentary by a talented photographer/videographer, Quinn Wharton, who is also a San Francisco Ballet Corps de Ballet member. If you are interested in seeing the documentary of this entire event, and having a copy for yourself, you can make it happen by giving a small donation to help Quinn capture this once in a lifetime opportunity on camera. For donations to the project please go to http://www.kickstarter.com and take a look at what kind of rewards we are offering in return for your donations.
For me, building a touring ballet company involves a great deal of hard work and it can be very taxing, but ultimately it is about envisioning your dream and taking the viewers along with you; with Quinn’s exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary footage, we can make this a reality and share this once in a lifetime experience with a broader audience.
With the greatest of thanks,
Tiit Helimets and Quinn B Wharton