Welcome to the Oakland Ballet School!
OBS offers classical ballet training to all students from pre-ballet to the pre-professional level. We strive to provide a welcoming environment and an encouraging atmosphere to learn ballet through musicality, artistic expression, coordination, and technique.
New Studio Location
The Oakland Ballet School has found a new home! Starting Fall 2019, we will be located at 3966 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611.
A note from the Directors
Saturday, December 22 was our last day of full classes at our beloved studio on MacArthur Blvd. A lot of great art, beautiful memories, and lasting friendships were created in that studio. The Ballet School, formerly the Oakland Ballet Academy, was founded in 1968 as the official school of the Oakland Ballet Company under the direction of Ronn Guidi. The Academy moved to the location on MacArthur in 1973 and became the home to both the company and academy, where dance luminaries came to set ballet masterpieces such as Billy the Kid, Les Biches, Les Noces, Afternoon of a Faun, Scheherezade, and The Green Table – to name a few. Joral and I have spent more than two-thirds of our lives training, dancing, and teaching in that space, which makes this a bittersweet end to this chapter in the history of the school. We are, however, hopeful and excited for what the next chapter will bring.
Joral & Denise Schmalle
