Summer Academy

Summer Dance Academy

2024 Dates
*Check back for Summer Academy 2025 Dates!*

July 8 – 12 Alameda
July 15 – 26 Hayward

Discover Your Artistic Voice

No audition required
Flexible scheduling available

Accelerate your training with one of the Bay Area’s leading professional dance companies in a fun, challenging, and nurturing environment. Oakland Ballet’s Summer Academy will give dancers the tools to expand their technique with high caliber training and artistically enriching classes.

This versatile program allows dancers to develop and use ballet technique more effectively, build performance skills, and grow artistically through:

Daily technique classes in ballet and pointe
Learning classical and neo-classical variations
Developing choreography skills

Faculty will be composed of Oakland Ballet Company Artistic Staff and Dancers. Students will have concentrated exposure to ballet artists that will enhance their training.

Proof of COVID vaccination is no longer required to enroll. All Alameda County Public Health Department COVID protocols will be observed.

Young ballet dancer sitting on floor performing gesture movement with hands.

Dear Mr. Graham,

Thank you so much for a wonderful three weeks! I really enjoyed getting to learn about the stories of Raymonda, Cinderella, and Coppelia. I am so greatful that you helped me tap into my creative mind by having us choreograph dances. You taught me how to let myself be one with the dance. Thank you so much for being supportive of my ideas and helping me understand how to put dances to music.

– OBC Summer Academy student

Ballet dancers extending one leg out to front with arms posing in ballet position.

Schedule

The first day of each week will serve as a placement class to evaluate which level will be most beneficial for the dancer’s experience. Dancers will be divided into two different levels in order to deliver a more personalized training.

Fridays we hold an “Informance.” At the end of each week, we welcome parents and family members into the studio to see what the students have been learning.

Hayward – Recommended for ages 9 with at least 2 years of ballet training and currently taking at least 2 classes per week or teacher recommendation

Alameda – Recommended for ages 10 and up with at least 3 years of ballet training and currently taking at least 3 classes per week or teacher recommendation

Summer Academy Daily Schedule˚

˚ Schedule subject to change

Alameda
1:00 – 2:30 Ballet Technique
2:45 – 3:45 Pointe or Pre-Pointe
4:00 – 5:00 Repertoire
5:00 – 6:00 Choreography

Alameda – Fridays
1:00 – 2:30 Ballet Technique
2:45 – 3:45 Pointe/Pre-Pointe
4:00 – 5:15 Rehearsal
5:30 – 6:00 Informance

Alameda location:

Alameda Ballet Academy
1402 Park St.
Alameda, CA 94501

Hayward
9:30 – 11:00 Ballet Technique
11:15 – 12:15 Pointe or Pre-Pointe
12:15 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 Repertoire
2:15 – 3:15 Choreography

Hayward – Fridays
9:30 – 11:00 Ballet Technique
11:15 – 12:15 Pointe or Pre-Pointe
12:15 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:45 Rehearsal
3:00 – 3:30 Informance

Hayward location:

Ballet Petit
2501 Industrial Pkwy W
Hayward, CA 94545

Each week will feature repertoire and choreography from different ballets:

July 8 – 12 (Alameda) Swan Lake
July 15 – 19 (Hayward) Don Quixote
July 22 – 26 (Hayward) Swan Lake

Choreography sessions provide the opportunity to explore their own creativity as they create their own dances with guidance from the faculty.

2024 Faculty

Lawrence Chen

(7/15 – 7/26 Ballet Petit)

Lawrence Chen (he/him) grew up in Southern California, studying ballet, contemporary, and hip-hop from the age of thirteen under the care of Victor and Tatiana Kasatsky and their faculty. He went on to compete in the YAGP, placing in the Top 12 Pas De Deux in the New York Finals of 2014 as well as in the Top 3 soloist at regional venues for several years. At Pomona College, Lawrence obtained a BA in chemistry with mathematics, took on collegiate ballroom, and performed as a principal dancer for the Inland Pacific Ballet under the watchful eye of Victoria Koenig. In addition to dancing with the Oakland Ballet Company, Lawrence teaches ballet and tutors high school STEM subjects. At OBC, he has performed the deer dance in Graham Lustig’s Luna Mexicana and in the title role of The Nutcracker as well as featured roles in new works by choreographers Seyong Kim, Shiori Kamijo, Grayson McGuire, Caili Quan, Megan and Shannon Kurashige, and Phil Chan, a co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface. Lawrence received an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance by an individual for his work in OBC’s 22-23 season and is a contributing choreographer to OBC’s Angel Island Project. This is his third full season with the Oakland Ballet.

Karina Eimon

(7/15 – 19 Alameda)

Karina Eimon (she/her) is from the Bay Area and trained with Ayako School of Ballet. Under the tutelage of Ayako Takahashi, she placed in the top three of YAGP SF for five consecutive years. In 2014 during her senior year of high school, she was invited to compete in the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, where she was offered a trainee contract with Ballet Memphis. From there, she joined Milwaukee Ballet II then danced with Colorado Ballet. Karina joined Oakland Ballet in 2019 and has performed the Princess in Phil Chan’s Ballet des Porcelaines, featured roles in Jangala, Luna Mexicana, and The Nutcracker, as well as works by Benjamin Briones, Seyong Kim, Alyah Baker, Sean Dorsey, and Bobby Briscoe. Passionate about sharing her love of dance and movement, Karina is a ballet teacher and certified GYROTONIC® instructor.

Jazmine Quezada

(7/8 – 12 Alameda, 7/15 – 26 Ballet Petit)

Jazmine Quezada (she/her) is from Ventura County, California where she began her ballet training at age 11 with Ventura County Ballet and was the first to receive the Ron Noblin Full Scholarship Award. Jazmine attended American Ballet Theater’s New York summer intensive in 2011 followed by the Joffrey Chicago International summer dance intensive on full scholarship. In 2016 she moved to San Francisco to continue her training on scholarship at the San Francisco Ballet School. There she performed with the San Francisco Ballet in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and in the leading role of Grace in Helgi Tomasson’s Meisten Mozart. Since joining the Oakland Ballet in 2018, she has performed the role of Luna in Luna Mexicana, the Sugar Plum Fairy in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, Frida Kahlo in Viva la Vida, Elaine Kudo’s Duet and Phil Chan’s Quartet from Exquisite Corpse, created roles in works by Caili Quan, Megan and Shannon Kurashige, Ye Feng, and Natasha Adorlee and appeared in the dance films Brief Encounter, In Plain Sight, and What I See. This is Jazmine’s fourth season with the Oakland Ballet Company.

Nicole Townsend

(7/8 – 12 Alameda)

Nicole Townsend (she/her) was born in San Jose, California. She began dancing at age 2 and began formal ballet training at Ballet San Jose at age 7. Her training continued at City Ballet School in San Francisco. After a Summer Intensive on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Nicole was accepted into their Professional Division Program. While there, she had the opportunity to perform with the company in The Nutcracker. She joined the Second Company of Kansas City Ballet where she performed Devon Carney’s The Nutcracker, Michael Pink’s Dracula and Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz. She was awarded a full scholarship to Paris Opera Ballet Summer Intensive, was a recipient of the American Friends of Paris Opera Ballet Scholarship, and studied at the Dutch National Summer Program in Amsterdam. Nicole joined Oakland Ballet in 2022 and has been seen as Marie in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, Benjamin Briones Mixtecas, Graham Lustig’s Luna Mexicana as well as Phil Chan’s Duet from Exquisite Corpse. Nicole received an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance for her work in OBC’s Rainbow Dances. This is her second season with the Oakland Ballet Company.

Registration Information

Tuition
$660 – 1 week
$1,259 – 2 weeks
A deposit must be paid to secure your position in the program
Balance is due by July 1
A late fee of $30 will be added to the balance after July 1

Dress Code

Girls: Any color leotard, pink tights and pink ballet slippers or flesh toned tights and flesh toned ballet slippers. Long hair or braids must be swept back away from the face and neck and held securely in a ballet bun. If hair is too short to be placed in a bun, it must be secured and held back by an elastic headband that will not fall off. All jewelry should be removed.
Boys: White t-shirt, black tights and black shoes, or white socks and white shoes.

Questions and Contact Information

Have questions about Oakland Ballet Company’s summer dance academy? We’re here to help! We want this special summer experience to be a chance for young and aspiring dancers to explore the full breadth of ballet and to help them build on their dance goals.

If you have any questions about our summer academy workshop, please email OBC Education Coordinator, Bat Abbit at babbit@oaklandballet.org or give us a call at 510.893.3132.

Financial Assistance

Scholarships are available for OBC’s summer dance academy. To apply, please complete a scholarship request form.

Refund Policy

Refunds are considered if a dancer experiences an injury or another medical condition that prevents him or her from completing the program. Upon notice, OBC will issue a refund for the remaining tuition balance – prorated for any time actually attending the program. Note: a $50 charge will be applied to tuition refunds. This charge helps to offset administrative expenses and any applicable credit card processing fees incurred.