Oakland Ballet timeline
1965: Oakland-born dancer Ronn Guidi founds the Oakland Ballet.
1976: Choreographer Eugene Loring comes out of retirement in Southern California to stage his “Billy the Kid,” Guidi’s first important historical acquisition. Later, Loring will contribute three more pieces to Oakland’s repertoire; for one, “The Tender Land,” Guidi invites Aaron Copland to conduct his score. “Billy the Kid” paves the way for revivals of American classics by Ruthanna Boris, Charles Weidman, May O’Donnell and Anna Sokolow.
1978: Guidi launches his series of Ballets Russes reconstructions by inviting dancer-choreographer Léonide Massine to stage his “Boutique Fantasque.”
1981: Guidi begins his revivals of the ballets of Bronislava Nijinska, starting with the influential masterpiece “Les Noces,” in its first production by an American company, and continuing with her “Les Biches,” the original “Boléro” and a conjectural reconstruction (by daughter Irina Nijinska and Frank W. D. Ries) of “Le Train Bleu.”
1984: Oakland stages Kurt Jooss’ antiwar classic, “The Green Table.”
1986: Guidi imports Agnes de Mille’s
“Fall River Legend.”
1987: Famed dancer Frederic Franklin stages a full-length Ballets Russes version of “Giselle.”
1990: Guidi celebrates the Oakland Ballet’s silver anniversary with a program devoted to the works of Mikhail Fokine, including “Scheherazade,” “Les Sylphides” and “Petrouchka.”
2000: Guidi retires.
2000: Karen Brown, from Dance Theatre of Harlem, becomes artistic director, introducing choreographers Trey McIntyre, Francesca Harper and Dwight Rhoden and supporting emerging minority and women dance makers.
2006: Oakland Ballet closes.
2007: Guidi returns from retirement and restarts the company.
2008: Guidi retires again.
2009: Dancers Jenna McClintock and Michael Lowe serve as guest artistic directors for a single year.
2010: Graham Lustig becomes artistic director, expands community relations and introduces a charming “Nutcracker” to the East Bay.