\n<\/p>\n
Rojo tries to stay optimistic. These could be \u201cpotentially the best times, the most transformative times,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially for the arts. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m hoping: That we are in the middle of the tornado and we can\u2019t see what\u2019s about to come when we cross.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid pandemics and wars, social media and A.I., she said, \u201cThere\u2019s so much noise.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the studio, Rojo tries to shut the noise out. And just as she encourages her dancers to do, she questions everything<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI sit through a lot of performances,\u201d she said. \u201cSo very often I\u2019m sitting there going, \u2018Should we still be doing this? Is this still relevant?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Part of what she\u2019s trying to achieve at San Francisco Ballet is to make the experience as inviting as possible. \u201cFrom the moment people enter the building, they need to understand that they are entering a different world,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that it is open to them and is<\/em> welcoming and is not reverential. And if anything, we are reverential toward them.\u201d<\/p>\n But how the art form competes with popular culture \u2014 she brought up a show she had just been watching, \u201cBlack Mirror\u201d \u2014 is something that keeps her up at night: \u201cHow do we continue to be relevant in the cultural landscape, to the people that we\u2019re supposed to be serving?\u201d Rojo said. \u201cIt\u2019s much easier when you\u2019re commissioning something to have that creativity. But when you\u2019re trying to sustain and support the legacy\u201d \u2014 of classical ballet \u2014 \u201cfor me, that\u2019s where this distance becomes more apparent.\u201d<\/p>\n Her perspective, she realized, is different from the ordinary ballet viewer. \u201cNow I look at things through my 3-year-old son,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2018Nutcracker\u2019 is the most magical thing you could ever wish for as a kid, and the beginning of \u2018Swan Lake\u2019 is terrifying. So I just look at it and then go, Oh, no, actually, this is fine. This can compete with \u2018Paw Patrol.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n