Workshops
Ballet Day Camp 2005

Ballet Petit Day Camp at Oakland Ballet Academy
(Must be beginning 4 or above)
Monday through Friday
the week of July 18 - July 22, 2005
10:30 am - 6:30 pm
Cost: $280.00

This summer we are once again having a special training opportunity. For one week, the week of July 18, we will be offering dancers in Beginning 4 or higher a chance to work with Ronn Guidi at his studio in Oakland.

Spend the week dancing with Ronn Guidi, Founding Artistic Director of the Oakland Ballet. Bring your own lunch.

Ronn gives of himself during this week in a very special way, as he is very fond of Ballet Petit dancers. The camp is priced keeping in mind that you might miss your Ballet Petit classes that week, or keep dancing until you fall over...whatever! Join us. It is always a memorable week. Don't miss this opportunity for some very special days spent with a living ballet legend.

Ronn is the founding Artistic Director of the Oakland Ballet. He ran the company until about 5 years ago. He still runs his school, which is located in Oakland on MacArthur Blvd., sort of near the Mormon Temple. Our Oakland Ballet Day Camp will meet there Monday through Friday the week of July 18. The schedule each day varies a bit. What happens is that our dancers sort of invade Ronn's existing program and add classes around it. For example, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we have our own class starting at 10 a.m. At noonish, we join a class that meets regularly, ending around 1:30. We have a lunchtime for about an hour. Then we regroup and study choreography with Ronn. This is a particularly special time. He is such a living ballet treasure and shares so much with our dancers at this time. He often shares ballet history rarely seen or heard. Dancers learn and experiment with choreography, it depends on the group's strengths which way things go. This lasts for about 2 hours. Then dancers join a regular class, ending around 6:30. (If they want, they can stay and take another class after that, or many hurry back to Ballet Petit for the last class.) The Tuesday/ Thursday schedule is a bit different, as no one else joins us until the afternoon. There is usually a pas de deux class (partnering). We have been doing this program for several years. Doing it here, instead of the old camp with Ronn we used to do in Tahoe, has made the cost more reasonable and the level of the classes higher. Ronn is so present to our dancers for this week. Having our own camp allows us to focus on our needs. It is a great opportunity. Ronn comes to our Spring Concerts and is very familiar with our dancers. I take class at his school almost every week, so we stay connected. Miss Joy and Omar used to dance with Ronn in the Oakland Ballet Company when he was directing it. The program is a good fit. It will be your responsibility to get to and from the Oakland studio each day, but dancers have always been able to work on carpools. When we have drivers, we sometimes eat lunch in a local park. If not, we hang out there. I am there most of the time, but still keep my teaching schedule at Ballet Petit. I will also take a class, or 2 with the group. It is also a nice opportunity for me to sit and observe our dancers in action.