Oakland Ballet's 'Secret Garden' will bloom again at the Paramount Theatre
By Robert Taylor
Staff Writer
"The Secret Garden" was the last full-length ballet that choreographer Ronn Guidi created as director of the Oakland Ballet. It premiered at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley in 1996, opened at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland the following year, and then toured to 16 cities in 12 weeks, from Washington and Oregon to upstate New York to Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

Now it’s back in Oakland.

Guidi’s revived production of “The Secret Garden,” for his revived Oakland Ballet Company, will be given a single performance Saturday night, again at the Paramount.

Oakland Ballet opens new season Saturday
By Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Article Launched: 10/19/2008 04:28:20 PM PDT

t's that time again: The start of the Oakland Ballet's new season, which begins Saturday.

It's the second season since artistic director and founder Ronn Guidi returned in 2007 from a short-lived retirement to rescue the company which had folded in 2005.

While the Oakland Ballet is heavily dependent on its maestro, Guidi's leadership is driving confidence in the company, which has been fortified with more than $75,000 this season through the generosity of Bell Investment Advisors Inc. Chevron also is returning as lead sponsor this season. (The ballet is, however, still looking for funding for the music that will accompany Saturday's performance of "Bamboo.")

Dance review: Oakland Ballet back in balance

Rachel Howard, Chronicle Dance Correspondent

Monday, October 27, 2008

For two years now, the Oakland Ballet Company has been an irresistible underdog, replete with an against-all-odds story. Could Ronn Guidi really reclaim the troupe he founded in 1968 - the troupe that foundered and finally folded seven years after his 1999 retirement - and bring it back to life with its old plucky spirit? Oaklanders who knew Guidi and remembered the Oakland Ballet heydays of the '80s and '90s hoped yes - and gave Guidi a lot of credit for heart.

Review: Oakland Ballet gets good news, strong performances
By Ann Murphy
MediaNews correspondent
Article Launched: 10/27/2008 01:01:08 PM PDT

While most of us are watching our investments wither or our 401(k)s tank, Ronn Guidi and Oakland Ballet are plumping up the company's bank account with $200,000 from Bank of America's Community Builders Award. The prize, announced Saturday as an Oakland Ballet performance began, is given nationally each year to honor organizations that contribute in significant ways to their community, and is the kind of support the struggling company needs to move out of convalescence and into full recovery.

Accepting the honor, Guidi appeared before the curtain all in black, looking a decade or two younger than his 73 years.