We recently connected with Lauren Jonas and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I took a risk by co-founding a ballet company in 1993. I was a professional dancer up until then. My co-founder, Ashraf Habibullah, and I had watched a performance at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek and we saw how excited the audience was to have ballet in its home theatre and we thought it would be a perfect venue to house a professional ballet company. There Lesher Center had professional, theater, symphony orchestra and opera but not a ballet company. We slowly took a year to build our brand and we hired dancers in January 1994. Our first performance was March 10, 1994 and we are about to celebrate our 30th season.

In 1995, we began our PEEK (Performing, Arts, Education and Enrichment for Kids) Program in 1995 with one second grade classroom. We are now in 9 title-1 schools in the East Bay each month and Juvenile Hall in Martinez every week for 11 months. teaching social emotional into movement lessons to create self-esteem, group process and the joy of artistic expression.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I received my training at the Marin Ballet under Maria Vegh and Margaret Swarthout, and then with Sally Streets. I performed with the Milwaukee Ballet, the Oakland Ballet, the Southwest Ballet, and toured the United States with the Moscow Ballet, directed by the Bolshoi Ballet’s Vaslav Gordeyev. I had the honor of performing ballets by renowned choreographers and enjoyed a 24 year career. Since Diablo Ballet’s premiere in 1994, I have recruited dancers from around the world to present the finest in contemporary and classical ballets. A firm believer in the need to stimulate the cultural development of future generations, I co-created the Ballet’s PEEK Outreach Program. I have been honored with awards including the 2005 National Philanthropy Day honoree, the 2000 Arts and Culture Commission Award of Contra Costa County, and the 1998 Contra Costa County Woman of Achievement Award for the Arts. I was the 2014 recipient of the Contra Costa Commission for Women Contributing to the Arts, Hall of Fame award and was an honoree at the State Assembly’s Women’s History Month. In 2016, I was honored at the Djerassi’s Women’s Residency Program for empowering women as leaders in the field of ballet and in 2022 I was a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley speaking on Women Leaders in the Arts. In addition, I have coached all of Diablo Ballet’s repertoire and staged the full-length production of Coppélia in 2022. I am also the Co-Founder and Director of Diablo Ballet School, which launched in 2019.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2000 and 2007, the downturn in the economy hit hard. Diablo Ballet was faced with some extreme emergency fundraising to stay in business. We hit the ground running to raise awareness and much needed funds and gratefully we survived. The same issue faced us during Covid-19 although due to being more established, it was daunting but not as devasting. Resilience is key in running a non-profit arts organization. Diablo Ballet has been through some scary times and has managed to survive.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me personally, it has been rewarding to see dancers, who have been with the Company for many years, witness their growth as artists. In addition, it has been a sense of pride to see the types of productions Diablo Ballet is able to mount. From being an arts organization of 8 dancers to now 17, which includes trainees, we are able to perform larger works. Diablo Ballet’s PEEK Outreach Program has been an enormous sense of pride for me. When you see a young person grow as an individual and become positive members of society post release from incarceration or become leaders in their classroom due to the effects of PEEK, it fills my soul. Most recently, having a ballet school, which trains professional students has been a dream fulfilled. To be able to guide young people in Diablo Ballet’s positive culture, is everything we are about.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.diabloballet.org
• Instagram: @diabloballet
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/diabloballet
• Linkedin: www.linkedin/diabloballet
• Twitter: @diabloballet
• Youtube: Diablo Ballet
• Yelp: Diablo Ballet
• Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/diabloballet
• Threads: @diabloballet
• Tiktok: @dballet

Image Credits
Lauren Jonas Headshot, 30th Anniversary Photo, Couple Jumping & Male dancer jumping are photos by Rosselyn Ramirez Single photos of two femiale dancers in long dresses: Photo by Aris Bernales and Rosselyn Ramirez