“SF Ballet’s Board of Trustees has made the decision that the company’s performances that were scheduled at the Trump Kennedy Center May 27-31 will no longer take place,” a company representative said in a statement. “SF Ballet looks forward to performing for Washington, D.C. audiences in the future.”
The company had been slated to present “Mere Mortals,” its contemporary ballet inspired by the myth of Pandora and artificial intelligence, at the Kennedy Center Opera House. But as of Saturday, the production no longer appears on the Ballet’s touring page, and a direct link to the Kennedy Center engagement on the organization’s website returns a 404 error message. The performances, however, remain listed on the Kennedy Center’s website.
The decision follows weeks of mounting pressure on the Ballet to withdraw from the engagement after President Donald Trump reshaped the Kennedy Center’s leadership, installed himself as chairman and approved renaming the institution the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
A Change.org petition urging the Ballet to pull out of the Washington D.C. run surpassed 7,400 signatures in recent weeks. Supporters argued that performing at the venue risked aligning the company with what they described as a politicized institution.
The controversy intensified after Trump announced plans to close the Kennedy Center for roughly two years beginning in July for what he called “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.” The proposed shutdown has created uncertainty for resident groups, including the National Symphony Orchestra, whose musicians told NBC News they were caught off guard by the announcement.
“Mere Mortals,” commissioned by Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, premiered in San Francisco in 2024 and was billed as a major touring vehicle for the company. The San Francisco Ballet first announced its Kennedy Center engagement last year as part of its 2026 touring plans.
The Ballet did not elaborate on the timing of the board’s vote or the status of contractual arrangements with the Kennedy Center.
The upheaval at the national institution has extended beyond programming. This week, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell said the annual honors ceremony would move forward under a new name — the “Trump Kennedy Center Honors” — and would be hosted at an alternative venue during the venue’s planned two-year closure.
