All About BRAVO

BACKGROUND:

BRAVO’s mission is to serve San Francisco Ballet.

BRAVO was started in 1974 by a small group of SF Ballet School parents who were asked by the company to help chaperone younger students backstage at Nutcracker.

This year we celebrate our 50th anniversary! We are a well-established volunteer group of nearly 300 members and last year gave over 13,500 volunteer hours to SF Ballet.

BRAVO is a self-governing organization. It has a Board consisting of an elected President and eight elected Board Members. Each Board Member serves as a Liaison to a department within SFB (Artistic, Development, Education and Audience Engagement, Facilities, Finance, HR, IT, Marketing, SFB School). The Liaisons are responsible for recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers for their departments. In addition, certain members are appointed as Project Leaders for specific on-going projects such as Dance Classes for People with Parkinson’s.

Choose your own adventure! BRAVO’s role includes service to nearly every department in the company. In a typical year, BRAVO volunteers provide 13,000+ hours of cost-saving services in these areas:

• Artistic – Backstage chaperoning for Nutcracker and full-length ballets, audition assistance, light-walking for staging.
• Development – Hospitality and support for stewardship and special events, including donor receptions and annual Gala; assisting with mailings and clerical tasks.
• School – Support for programs and events: parent observations, class presentations, Club Nut management and fund-raising, and backstage and front-of-house support for Spring Festival.
• Education & Audience Engagement – Staffing the family viewing area in the Opera House; supporting school-time and sensory-friendly performances, dance-along workshops, classes for people with Parkinson’s, and Dance in Schools & Community.
• Marketing – Staffing and support for Opera House Gift Shop and for SFB publicity and promotions including shows at Stanford and Stern Grove.
• Facilities & Human Resources – Technical and clerical support; staffing for audition days for visiting companies.

Our most important time of the year is Nutcracker! BRAVO assists with every element of Nutcracker: chaperoning young performers backstage, staffing the gift shop, developing and supervising Club Nut, managing Family Viewing areas, helping youngsters at Dance-Along Workshops, and much more!

There are many unique elements to joining BRAVO:

Perks

• Members get behind-the-scenes glimpses and the opportunity to see how the Company functions from the inside.
• We track volunteer hours and once certain benchmarks are reached volunteers are eligible for discounts, invitation to receptions hosted by SF Ballet, passes to open stage rehearsals, ticket vouchers, membership in Christensen Society and more!

Friendships & Community

• For many of our volunteers, the most notable aspect of being part of BRAVO is the friendships they have forged over their years of volunteering (We have many dedicated and passionate members who have volunteered more than 10–15 years)
• Have fun while giving back to our community and supporting the arts

Personal Development

• There are a variety of volunteering opportunities where you are encouraged to share your existing talents and skills, as well as opportunities to learn new skills and meet new people.