Take A Look At Why We Love San Francisco and our Wonderful Neighbors!

Have you ever wondered why we’re located where we are? What makes this location so magical for us? We’re here to share why we twirl in San Francisco on Bay Street and how this special location came to be! 

The Magic Of Our Studio

Genevieve Custer Weeks, our owner and CEO, danced professionally in the Bay Area with the Oakland Ballet and also taught the preschool and young children age group at local dance studios in the city. She quickly fell in love with this age group, but noticed that nothing about the curriculum they were being taught or the spaces the classes were held in supported early childhood learning and their unique needs. Genevieve started to imagine a boutique ballet school specifically for children under the age eight years old that nurtures big imaginations and allows creative expression through movement, music, and storytelling. Initially, her plan was to wait until after she retired from performing to open up her dream school, but her husband, Andrew, said “Why wait?”. Shortly after, Tutu School was born! 

Genevieve’s first Tutu School opened in February of 2008 on Bay Street in downtown San Francisco. Tutu School San Francisco is an absolutely adorable and cozy studio that features beautiful wall art tutus, handcrafted by the lovely Donna Leet, to match our Ballet Storytime Curriculum. Our soft yellow walls showcase the tutus that audience members might see in the ballets Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. We absolutely adore this space and we know you will love it just as much as we do!

Following the successful launch of Tutu School San Francisco ~ Bay Street, Genevieve opened up Tutu School Larkspur across the Bay at the lovely Marin Country Mart in September of 2009. Since then Tutu School has grown to 108 locations across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom with more locations on the way! We are so excited that you are along the ride for this beautiful journey that is Tutu School!

How Do We Work With Our Community?

While San Francisco is known for its stunning views, iconic landmarks such as Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Painted Ladies, it is such a vibrant and diverse city filled with so many wonderful companies and small businesses that we are so thrilled to partner and work with. The San Francisco community is so generous, innovative, and eclectic and we are proud to be a part of such a robust and beautiful community. We have been lucky to work with so many lovely organizations and we are so excited to highlight what makes them so wonderful!

Stroll Through The Farmer’s Market at North Beach

Every Saturday between Greenwich Street between Columbus and Powell, right next to the Joe Dimaggio playground you will find one of the only independent run farmer’s markets in San Francisco! The North Beach Farmer’s Market is completely volunteer organized and run and has been in existence since 2018! The market is year round too, so fun!

As you walk from booth to booth, prepare to be enthralled by the delicious smells of fresh bread and pastries, the bright colors of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the excitement of handmade items made by local artisans. And what is a market without a little entertainment for the whole family? We love that every week you will find  local musicians and bands playing during the market!

This is the perfect spot to explore after your little one’s Saturday morning Tutu School class, as it is only a short walk from the studio! We encourage you to grab a coffee and a pastry and soak in the magic of the market. 

We love how the North Beach Farmer’s Market fosters community between neighbors and provides access to fresh produce from the Bay Area’s very talented farmers! Tutu School has been lucky enough to participate in a few markets and we are so excited to be back soon!

Shop at Sprout!

Sprout is a locally owned business who specializes in organic and toxin-free products for babies and young children! They pride themselves on doing the research so that parents and caregivers don’t have to worry about whether they are bringing anything unsafe or unhealthy into their households. Their products must meet Sprout’s three requirements before even being marketed or sold to their customers. We adore this and as a children’s service ourselves, we do get questions about where to buy certain items. We are always so proud and thrilled to recommend Sprout to our Tutu School families. Additionally, Suzanne, their founder and CEO also happens to be a friend of our CEO and founder, Genevieve!

With Sprout, we have been lucky enough to partner with them and use their beautiful space for pop-up classes and events! In the early days of Tutu School, we would frequently pop in for Tutu Toddler classes and were thrilled to bring Tutu School to the loyal Sprout community. We can’t wait for future partnerships and pop-ups and hope you will twirl with us there. Stay tuned for more! 

Prepare to be Mesmerized by the San Francisco Ballet!

Located not too far from our Bay Street Studio, at the stunning War Memorial Opera House, you will find the world renowned San Francisco Ballet! The company was founded in 1933 and was the first ballet company in the United States to produce the first full length versions of Coppelia, Swan Lake, and the beloved holiday tradition, the Nutcracker! All of those ballets can be found in our Ballet Storytime curriculum at Tutu School as well.

San Francisco Ballet is led by their Artistic Director, Tamaro Rojo, a world renowned ballerina in her own right. Upon appointment, she became the first woman to ever hold this role in the company’s history. Prior to working with the San Francisco Ballet she danced with companies such as the Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet and the Royal Ballet. Some of her most famous roles were Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and the title role in Giselle. 

Additionally, the San Francisco Ballet boasts their own orchestra! What a treat for the dancers and the audience to experience dancing and listening to such talented musicians at each performance!

San Francisco Ballet is also the home of the very prestigious San Francisco Ballet School. Once our little Tutu School students and their bodies are ready for a more disciplined study of ballet, we are always thrilled to refer them to the San Francisco Ballet School! They offer everything from youth ballet to a pre-professional training program for those dreaming to become professional ballet dancers. Sixty five percent of their current roster of dancers in the company were San Francisco Ballet School graduates. How impressive and exciting is that?

Another thing we love is that every year we can recommend that our students and their families attend a ballet! While the San Francisco Ballet does The Nutcracker every year, we are super thrilled that this upcoming 2025-26 season they are also mounting productions of Don Quixote and Serenade in the George Balanchine Program. All three of these ballets are in our Ballet Storytime Curriculum and it is so very exciting that our dancers can go and experience it live after learning about these magical and beloved ballet stories in their Tutu School classes!

Attending a ballet at a young age, creates so many wonderful and cherished memories and we are so thrilled that San Francisco Ballet is there to make so many ballet dreams come true. We hope to see you at the ballet, Tutu Schoolers!

Twirling For Inclusion with WAWOS

Last but certainly not least, we are thrilled to highlight WAWOS, also known as, We’re All Working On Something. WAWOS is very near and dear to our hearts, as their founder Jacquie Robsinon’s daughter, Sofia, was a long time Tutu Schooler! Their mission is to celebrate and support children with Cerebral Palsy or other similar neuromuscular delays. They believe that by changing the conversation around disability that we can break down barriers and promote inclusion!

We have been super fortunate to partner with them at Tutu School San Francisco ~ Bay Street for our Twirling For Inclusion events! These Twirling for Inclusion events are free and bring together a small group of wonderful, neurotypical kids together with amazing kids who have a disability or neurodivergent diagnosis. At Tutu School we very much value inviting kids of all abilities to participate in our programs, and this is a great opportunity to showcase the importance of ‘accessibility for all’, when it comes to building community. We look forward to hosting more of these meaningful and impactful events at our studios and hope to see you at the next one. Please stay tuned for more information about upcoming Twirling for Inclusion events!

We Are So Thankful For Our Neighbors

We would not be who we are without such wonderful neighbors! It is so inspiring to work alongside so many other passionate business owners and we are so humbled to be in the same space as them. We love to be able to refer our Tutu School members to such wonderful businesses and organizations! Thank you for the magic San Francisco!