Community Steps Forward to Keep Diablo Ballet Dancing

2007-2008 season to include four world premieres

Walnut Creek, CA – July 25, 2007 – After four months of intense fundraising, Diablo Ballet has announced that it will perform its 14th season. The company’s future was put into jeopardy after the departure of its co-founder and long-time benefactor, Ashraf Habibullah, who retired from the board in March to devote his attention to his business. But since that time, the company’s volunteers have worked diligently to raise nearly $260,000 in cash and in-kind donations from individuals, funding organizations and corporations. The money and support raised, combined with a reduced operating budget, will enable the Walnut Creek-based company to survive.

Making it possible to mount the next season, Diablo Ballet has received commitments of $90,000 in corporate support from U.S. Bank, Fidelity Charitable Gifts and Charles Schwab, among others; $125,000 in grants, including $75,000 from The Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation; and $130,000 in in-kind services. In-kind contributors include Grower's Square, the City of Walnut Creek's Civic Arts Education, Walnut Creek Sports & Fitness Club, the Center for Sports Medicine, Integro Sports and Rehabilitation Chiropractic, Global Imprints, Lewis Smith Videography, and Jeanne Walker Graphic Design.

“We’ve been simply amazed by the outpouring of support for Diablo Ballet,” says artistic director Lauren Jonas. “We have more money to launch the coming season than we’ve ever had before. Like any other arts organization, we still have some fundraising to do. But we know now that the community wants us here, and that we will be able to move forward.”

Diablo Ballet’s 2007-2008 season promises to be one of its best yet, featuring three world premieres, including Nikolai Kabaniaev’s Once Upon a Ballroom on March 21-22. The full-length ballet will feature the music of favorite arias and duets from such famous operas as La Traviata, Norma, and Samson & Delilah. “This is a ballet I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” says Kabaniaev, a Russian-born former principal dancer with the prestigious Kirov Ballet. “The story will revolve around a high society salon, where patrons have gathered for a soiree of dancing and socializing, and will be unlike anything Diablo Ballet has presented before.”

The company will also continue to deliver its Dance Development Educational Outreach Program to elementary school students in the region. The program – being re-named to the PEEK Program: Performing Arts Education and Enrichment for Kids – has been applauded by parents, teachers, and local community groups for delivering educational, interactive creative movement programs, primarily to under-served children.

“The Lesher Foundation has been a long-time supporter of Diablo Ballet,” says Kathleen Odne, executive director of Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation. “We greatly value not only their innovative dance productions but also their commitment to providing dance outreach to the schools. For many children, this program provides these kids’ first and only opportunity to experience the beauty of dance and physical movement.”

Among other recent changes, Diablo Ballet has strengthened its Board of Directors with the addition of Jack Catton of US Bank and a new president, Miriam Bernstein, who brings extensive non-profit experience to the position as the former Director of Corporate Events for the American Heart Association and Program Manager for the California Science Teachers Association.

Bernstein notes that Diablo Ballet is now in a strong position to move forward. “Our budget for the coming season is balanced and our cash flow is positive, thanks in great part to the incredible support we’ve received from our patrons and funders over the past four months. While we still have a small fundraising gap to close, its manageable. And, for the first time in years, we have a solid plan for how to close that gap. We want everyone to know that Diablo Ballet is here not only to stay, but to thrive in the long run.”

Says Catton: “When Lauren told me that Diablo Ballet had a strategic plan to build a base of operating capital to ensure years of continued existence, I asked how US Bank could help. Diablo Ballet is one of the greatest treasures in the East Bay. They touch more lives than most could imagine, and both directly and indirectly make our community a better place to live. We all share the responsibility to keep them thriving.”

To purchase season tickets or make a donation,
go to www.DiabloBallet.org or call (925) 943-1775. 

ABOUT DIABLO BALLET

“Diablo Ballet is a prize above rubies. With excellent dancers and an interesting repertory, it is worth a trip across the Bay,” San Francisco Magazine has noted. Once calling it “the best suburban troupe in the state,” the San Francisco Chronicle has also noted that “Diablo Ballet deserves continuing applause for creating a home for experienced dancers and emerging choreographers.” As well, the company has been praised by the Los Angeles Times as “a major discovery” and named “Best Company” at BalletFest in 2000. 

Diablo Ballet helped place Walnut Creek on the international dance map when it was the only American company invited to perform at Bangkok’s 7th International Music and Dance Festival in October 2005, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Thailand. Multi-cultural in its composition, Diablo Ballet under Artistic Director Lauren Jonas consists of ten dancers who have graced the ranks of such prestigious companies as the Kirov Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, Ballet Columbia, Ballet de Caracas, San Francisco Ballet and Miami City Ballet.  

One of the Lesher Center for the Arts’ cornerstone performing arts companies, Diablo has also appeared frequently at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, as well as toured throughout the West Coast. Among its unique contributions to the Contra Costa community are Diablo Ballet's Dance Development Educational Outreach, Apprentice, and Intermediate Programs. 

By bringing dance back to our public schools, the Dance Development Educational Outreach has touched thousands of children who would otherwise have little or no exposure to dance – not only as an art form, but as a way to express themselves creatively and physically. Outside the classroom, the project’s Theater Encounter program allows under-served children, many of whom have never stepped foot into a professional theater, to experience a real dance production at no cost. Hundreds of young children are bused to the Lesher Center for the Arts each year for this special experience. Teachers, parents, and community leaders have praised the Dance Development Program for the way it has engaged, motivated and inspired so many children in our region. 

The Diablo Ballet Apprentice Program, under the direction of Viktor Kabaniaev and Tina Kay Bohnstedt, is designed as a class of young dancers with outstanding potential and provides performance opportunities with Diablo Ballet and Civic Arts Education/Diablo Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. Among other accolades, program participants placed first in the pre-professional division of the Dance Under the Stars Choreography Competition in October 2005. 

The Diablo Ballet Intermediate Program, under the direction of Rebecca Crowell, is designed for students, ages 11 to 18, with previous dance training who want to pursue a professional career. Participants are given the opportunity to perform demi solos and corps de ballet parts in the Diablo Ballet and Civic Arts Education/Diablo Ballet's production of the Nutcracker.

For more information, visit www.DiabloBallet.org.