Diablo Ballet launches new dance school in Pleasant Hill

On Aug. 26, Diablo Ballet is opening its own ballet school – the first in the East Bay run by a professional ballet company.

The school will offer classes to students age 3 to adult who enjoy dancing as well as those who wish to pursue a professional career in ballet.

Under the leadership of Lauren Jonas, co-founder and artistic director of Diablo Ballet, the staff will also include associate director Rebecca Berke, school principal and company dancer Raymond Tilton and other Diablo Ballet company dancers.

Students will have a number of performance opportunities throughout the year, as well as the chance to participate in master classes. Students will have access to the ballet’s sports medicine physician, acupuncturist and physical therapists and can also attend classes on nutrition and preventing injuries.

For those interested in becoming professional ballet dancers, Diablo Ballet is launching a Professional Trainee Program. Students must be enrolled in Ballet Level 5 and audition for the professional program. Trainee Program members will be able to participate and understudy in company rehearsals and perform with Diablo Ballet.

Joanna Berman, former principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet and Diablo Ballet’s regisseur, will teach the advanced ballet class 5-8 p.m. Aug. 26 with Tilton. The other class levels are invited to participate or watch.

“Excellent training is essential for a professional career in ballet,” Berman says. “I’m thrilled that Diablo Ballet School will be providing such training to young dancers in the East Bay.”

Now in its 26th year, the company is committed to exposing youth to the arts through its renowned PEEK Outreach Programs for underserved school children in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. In addition, Diablo Ballet has served hundreds of at-risk teenage girls incarcerated within the juvenile justice system since 2015. This month, the ballet launched a new program for adolescents housed at the Behavioral Therapy Unit at John Muir Hospital in Concord.

Diablo Ballet will host Family Day, featuring fashion, food and fun, at 11 a.m. Aug. 17 at Macy’s Walnut Creek. The school will have an Open House 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Performing Academy, 1948 Oak Park Blvd., Pleasant Hill. The site will also be the new home of company rehearsals.

To register for classes or for more information, call 925-943-1775 or visit diabloballet.org.