Striving for Beauty takes place during the Christensen Brothers era of the San Francisco Ballet. The Prologue ends with Willam presenting the first full-length Nutcracker in America in 1944. Sally Bailey, one of the Company's future ballerinas, enters Harold's School here, and through her eyes we see the growth of the Company and herself, including; Willam's departure, Lew's ascendance, Balanchine's influence, the State Department tours, trying to get recognition at home, and touring across the U.S. She also gives her perspective on issues both personal and artistic-that dancers face. A short Epilogue carries San Francisco Ballet history forward to today.