Dana Genshaft was born in Moscow, where she began her early dance training. Upon moving to New York City in 1989, Dana continued her studies at the School of American Ballet, Kirov Academy of Ballet, and finally the Paris Opera Ballet School. She joined the San Francisco Ballet in 2000, rising to soloist in 2008. Dana’s repertory includes classical and contemporary works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Alejandro Cerrudo, John Cranko, William Forsythe, Edwaard Liang, Wayne McGregor, Mark Morris, John Neumeier, Yuri Possokhov, Jerome Robbins, Penny Saunders, Paul Taylor, and Christopher Wheeldon. In 2015, Dana joined the faculty of the San Francisco Ballet School to teach ballet, contemporary, and improvisation. She also supported the development of several choreographic initiatives. Dana was selected to participate in the 2016 NY Choreographic Institute, jumpstarting her choreographic career. That same year Dana joined SFDanceworks’ inaugural season. There, she choreographed a solo work Portrait, which was later adapted to film and screened in festivals globally including SFDanceFilmFestival, Paris Independent Film Festival, Montreal Independent Film Festival, Prague International Indie Film Festival, and Berlin International Art Film Festival. Her choreography was featured in George Harrison’s official music video for What is Life. She has been commissioned by Washington Ballet, BalletMet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Idaho, SFBallet Training Program, and ABT Studio Company. Her work has shown at NYC’s ‘Fall For Dance’, Guggenheim Works and Process, and Marquee TV. Dana was the recipient of the 2018 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award. In October of 2021, Dana was appointed Interim Artistic Director at SFDanceworks, becoming Artistic Director in 2022. She continues to mentor, educate, and choreograph.