BIOGRAPHY
Chris Hellman was born in London England and was a scholar at the Royal Academy of Dancing. She was awarded the Solo Seal and Adeline Genee silver medal of the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1951. She danced with London's Festival Ballet for four years, retiring in 1955 as a Soloist.
Ms. Hellman moved to New York, raised her children, and began her long involvement with groups promoting ballet, physical education, arts and culture, as well as community programs.
Having been an avid skier and gold medal winner in Masters World Cup Slalom competition, Ms. Hellman co-founded and chaired the Stratton Mountain School in Vermont, a college preparatory school, that also served as a training ground for members of the Olympic Ski Team (students of the school competed in the last five Olympic games).
After moving to San Francisco, she became a member of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Ballet Association in 1983. She was Vice President and Chair of the Artistic Committee from 1986 through 1991 when she was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees. She presently is Board Chair Emeritus and serves on the Executive Committee.
She has also been chair of the San Francisco Art Organization's Task Force and is currently a board member of the San Francisco Free Clinic.
Along with her community and arts involvements, Ms. Hellman has been a committed painter. She found the excitement of color and the experience of painting to be as exacting and demanding as ballet dancing and skiing. She began exhibiting her watercolors at the Rena Bransten Gallery in 1996.