Tina LeBlanc.

On May 9, during the last weekend of the San Francisco Ballet season, Tina LeBlanc starred in a gala that concluded one of the more fulfilling performing careers in recent dance history. After a 17-year tenure in the Bay City and a decade with the Joffrey Ballet, LeBlanc departed the stage with a series of pas de deux that paired her with partners past and present--Gonzalo Garcia, Griff Braun, Davit Karapetyan, and Ruben Martin. They performed in dances by Balanchine, Tomasson, and Lubovitch, repertory she did so much to exalt during her reign in San Francisco. Filmed tributes from colleagues and a recorded interview with the ballerina spiced the dance numbers. A standing ovation, a carpet of flowers from her associates, and greetings from her two sons sent LeBlanc sailing into the next phase of her career. No surprise at the response: The public always found her one of the easiest ballerinas to love.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

LeBlanc's artistry energized many evenings of her farewell season. An injury had sidelined her during much of the 2008 New Works Festival, which may have led to the urgency of her performances in her announced farewell year. Lodged deepest in this observer's memory was LeBlanc's rhythmically dazzling and sublimely musical showing in Rubies.

Now, at 43, LeBlanc has joined the faculty of the SFB School. Whether the caliber of unpretentious artistry exemplified by this dancer can be transmitted to a younger generation remains to be seen.

"It took a week to get back to real life after the gala," says LeBlanc. "Actually, I have been teaching since I was a kid. What's new here is working with the same group of girls and watching their progress. The challenge for me is to inspire them to keep their energy level up."

LeBlanc praises the barre work of her students (ages 11-17), but she sees where they can be better. "The problem," she says, "is getting these girls to connect everything, to instill a sense of movement. They must learn that the arms and head are as much a part of dancing as the feet."