Looking at the way that Diablo Ballet has thrived in recent years despite contending with the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic, one might think that the Walnut Creek-based company had made a deal with the devil.
But with its 30th season kicking into high gear this weekend at the Lesher Center for the Arts, it’s clear that Diablo’s success emanates not from the dark side but entirely from the light.
“Lauren cultivates a really comfortable, loving place to work,” said Salt Lake City choreographer Penny Saunders, referring to Lauren Jonas, Diablo Ballet’s co-founder, artistic director and guiding spirit.
The premiere of Saunders’ Diablo commission, “Dr. Magic,” is a centerpiece of the company’s Feb. 9-10 program, which also includes “Sleeping Beauty’s Wedding,” the lavish third act of Marius Petipa’s ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” set to Tchaikovsky’s playful score. An encore performance of Gerald Arpino’s athletic “Confetti” featuring music by Rossini, completes the program.
A dauntingly busy independent choreographer who has created works for leading companies such as Hubbard Street, Cincinnati Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, and the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Saunders has a deep breadth of experience when it comes to evaluating the vibe within dance institutions.
Diablo, she said, “has a different feel than the bigger ballet companies. Everyone has to pull their weight, has to be able to do everything. In my experience there are lots of laughs and intermingling between principal and corps dancers, a camaraderie that comes from the top. That’s not always the case.”
Diablo Ballet has performed several Saunders pieces before, but this is her first new work set by the company, a commission in honor of longtime Diablo supporter Mari Cyphers, who passed away in 2022. Looking at Cyphers’ life for inspiration, Saunders was intrigued by her dual identities as the CEO of Alameda Pediatric Dentistry and as a professional clown, juggler and magician who performed as Dr. Magic.
“I leaned into that a little bit, looking to find the humor, joy and levity,” Saunders said. “It has a little bit of fun involved, and a bit of a love affair between two women.”
Presenting the full third act of “The Sleeping Beauty” speaks to the company’s expanding resources. The wedding of Princess Aurora and Prince Desire is a lavish production featuring jeweled fairies and a cast of fairy-tale characters including Puss in Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, Prince Charming, and “some dance that isn’t normally seen with Cinderella,” Jonas said. “Of course there’s the grand pas de deux and big finale with the whole company and our students.”
Diablo Ballet’s 30th season gives a good sense of how the company has evolved, but much of the action takes places off stage and out of sight. There’s the Diablo Ballet School, the Trainee Program for aspiring professional dancers, a free Adaptive Dance program for people with Parkinson’s, and the PEEK (Performing Arts Education & Enrichment for Kids) Program, “which is now in 10 Title 1 schools throughout the East Bay,” Jonas said. “We are giving movement classes in juvenile hall in Martinez every week.”
She’s particularly proud of the work the company is doing in with youth in juvenile hall in Martinez and Byron Boys’ Ranch, with weekly dance movement classes that can function as therapy, “talking about specific feelings,” she said, “about how we can get people on a better track.
“Since we’ve been at juvenile hall, recidivism work has dropped 10 percent,” she added.
Taken all together it’s an impressive array of activities and a long way from when company was launched in 1994 with eight dancers. If there’s one major goal that’s still on the drawing board it’s buying a building that can accommodate the company, school, and administrative staff.
The smart bet is that Jonas will make it happen. “I’m extremely stubborn,” she said, sounding a little awed at the passage of time.
“As a co-founder of the company, I sometimes find myself without words. The days keep going and all of the sudden look at the clock, and it’s 30 years. I never take it for granted. We’re in a good groove now, but it’s ever evolving, an ebb and flow. There’s always a new challenge.”
Contact Andrew Gilbert at [email protected].
DIABLO BALLET
Presents “Sleeping Beauty’s Wedding,” “Dr. Magic,” and “Confetti”
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10
Where: Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
Tickets: $37-$48, diabloballet.org
