Oakland Ballet School

Established in 1968, the Oakland Ballet Academy was first known as the SHOM, the School of the Holy Names, and it was founded by Ronn Guidi as the official training school for the Oakland Ballet Company. The Academy moved to MacArthur Avenue in 1973, becoming the new home of the Oakland Ballet Company and Academy. Well-known dancers from around the world flocked to here to dance in works like Billy the Kid and Les Noces.  Joral and I have been dancing, training, and teaching in this room for over two-thirds of our lives. This is a bittersweet end to a chapter in the school's history. But wherever we go from here, we are optimistic and excited. Oakland Ballet School is an academy that offers classical ballet instruction to students of all levels: from pre-ballet to pre-professional. We aim to create a welcoming atmosphere where students can develop their musicality, artistic expression, coordination, and technique.

The dance school receives largely positive ratings from both new and returning dancers. Many artists enjoy the tight-knit and supportive community the school has put in place. Numerous parents who have schooled their children there while extolling the virtues of the companionship that their children have generated with the ballet community. It offers beginner ballet classes as an interesting and difficult but also enjoyable location for studying ballet. Still, as a novice, one does not know much about ballet, the learning setting is beneficial, and the teachers frequently make it rewarding. The critiques suggest that this dance center has established a nurturing and welcoming learning atmosphere and runs everything fairly well.