Mary's First and Last Chance

The Oakland Ballet Company is a non-profit ballet company based in Oakland, California. OBC was founded in 1965 by Ronn Guidi, an Oakland native, and gained international recognition through its historical reconstructions of ballets from the legendary Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev; the mounting of classic works of Americana; and the creation of innovative contemporary choreography.Guidi founded Oakland Ballet Company on the same the principles that inspired the legendary dance troupe of Ballets Russes. Formed in Paris in the early 20th century under impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballets Russes went on to redefine the art of ballet. Guidi studied under Raoul Pausé for many years, himself a former student of Ballets Russes dancer and choreographer Adolf Bolm, and thus inherited the Ballet Russes tradition of fusing classical training with unrestrained choreographic possibilities. Noted revivals by Oakland Ballet include works by renowned choreographers Kurt Jooss, Michel Fokine, Charles Weidman, and Antony Tudor and the first re-staging of works by Bronislava Nijinska in the United States. Championing American masterpieces as well, Oakland Ballet has presented Eugene Loring's "Billy the Kid", Ruthanna Boris's "Cakewalk", and Agnes de Mille's "Fall River Legend". Along with Guidi's own repertoire of choreography, Oakland Ballet has produced celebrated works by local choreographers such as Val Caniparoli, Carlos Carvajal, Margaret Jenkins, Alonzo King, Michael Lowe, Robert Moses, and Amy Seiwert, among others. In 2000, Oakland Ballet ushered in a new era with a new Artist Director, celebrated Dance Theatre of Harlem dancer, Karen Brown. Brown brought a renewed focus to the production of ballets by local and contemporary choreographers while continuing the company’s commitment to performing great classical works. In 2007 OBC celebrated the return of founding Artistic Director, Ronn Guidi. Mr. Guidi retired for the final time in 2008 and Oakland Ballet continued to present productions under the direction of guest Artistic Directors through the spring of 2010. In 2010, the company welcomed internationally acclaimed choreographer and director Graham Lustig as Artistic Director. Lustig’s career as a dancer, artistic director, and choreographer parallels OBC’s tradition of presenting historically vibrant work while championing new choreography. Under Lustig’s leadership, the Oakland Ballet has rekindled its commitment to serving the local community by producing ballet that is vibrant in its artistic vision and draws on the Bay Area’s great talent. Oakland Ballet’s longtime collaboration with Michael Morgan, Music Director and Conductor of Oakland East Bay Symphony, continues to be a hallmark of the annual performance of Graham Lustig’s "The Nutcracker" at the Paramount Theatre. Since his appointment as Artistic Director of Oakland Ballet Company in 2010, Lustig has presented five seasons of his Nutcracker and three spring repertory productions, Forwards! (2011), Diaghilev Imagery (2013), and Oakland-esque (2014), with a focus on commissioned works by esteemed Bay Area choreographers. Lustig’s ballet Infinitum was included in the West Wave Dance Festival (2011) and he initiated Oakland Ballet Company’s annual summer Ballet Boot Camp, a two-week dance and choreography workshop now in its fifth year, as well as ongoing ballet training opportunities at The Academy at Oakland Ballet Company. Lustig also been instrumental in reviving Oakland Ballet’s role in arts education in the East Bay, establishing OBC’s current “Discover Dance” community outreach program.

The Key Route Inn was a major hotel in Oakland, California in the early decades of the 20th century. It was constructed by the Realty Syndicate of Francis "Borax" Smith and Frank C. Havens, a subsidiary of which was the Key Route transit system. The Inn opened on May 7, 1907, straddling what is now Grand Avenue along the west side of Broadway. President William Howard Taft and his party were guests in 1909. The building was a massive wood-framed structure with open timbering, in imitation of an old English style. One of its most remarkable features was a large archway and corridor through which the tracks of one of the Key Route's transbay lines passed. A Key Route stop in this corridor connected to the hotel's main lobby. The Key Route Inn suffered major fire damage on September 8, 1930. This, combined with the beginning of the Great Depression and the City of Oakland's desire to connect Grand Avenue with 22nd Street led to the Inn being fully demolished in April and May, 1932, only 25 years after it opened. The rail line continued, however, becoming the "B" transbay line upon the opening of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge railway. The rail line was replaced by the "B" bus route in April 1958, and was subsequently incorporated into the publicly owned AC Transit system; the modern line B route bypasses the location of the former hotel by nearly a mile.

The Paramount Theatre is a 3,040-seat Art Deco concert hall located at 2025 Broadway in Downtown Oakland. When it was built in 1931, it was the largest multi-purpose theater on the West Coast, seating 3,476. Today, the Paramount is the home of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and the Oakland Ballet. It regularly plays host to R&B, jazz, blues, pop, rock, gospel, classical music, as well as ballets, plays, stand-up comedy, lecture series, special events, and screenings of classic movies from Hollywood's Golden Era.

The I. Magnin Building is a former I. Magnin department store in Oakland, California located at 2001 Broadway. It was built in 1931 and designed by architecture firm Weeks and Day. It housed the upscale department store until it closed in 1995. The building's green terra-cotta facade and art deco ornamentation make it a prominent landmark and a local visitor attraction in the Uptown neighborhood.The building's interior was completely renovated in 2000, and it now houses retail and office businesses. It had more than 92% occupancy as of 2013. In 2016, Athen B Gallery arranged for Jet Martinez to paint a mural on the windowless rear wall of the building. Martinez painted lilies inspired by Mexican folk art.

The Fox Oakland Theatre is a 2,800-seat concert hall, a former movie theater, located at 1807 Telegraph Avenue in Downtown Oakland. It originally opened in 1928, running films until 1970. Designed by Weeks and Day, the theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was refurbished in the 2000s and reopened as a concert venue on February 5, 2009.

Uptown Oakland is a neighborhood in Oakland, California, located in the northern end of Downtown. It is located roughly between West Grand Avenue to the north, Interstate 980 to the west, City Center and 14th Street to the south, and Broadway to the east. The neighborhood has become an important entertainment district in recent years.

Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales in Oakland was an 1893 church, which served as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland in Oakland, California from 1962 until it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Creative Growth Art Center is a nonprofit arts organization, based in Oakland, California, that provides studios, supplies, and gallery space to artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities. It is one of the oldest and largest art center for people with disabilities in the world. It is currently located at 355 24th Street in Oakland, California.

19th Street Oakland station is an underground Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located under Broadway between 17th Street and 20th Street in the Uptown District of Oakland, California. It is a timed transfer point between northbound trains to Richmond and to Antioch. It is the busiest BART station in both Oakland and the East Bay, and the 5th busiest BART station overall, with a daily ridership of approximately 14,300 in February 2020.The station has three underground levels, with tracks on the second and third levels. It is served by the Richmond–Millbrae+SFO line, Berryessa/​North San José–Richmond line, and Antioch–SFO+Millbrae line, as well as by AC Transit buses on the surface at the Uptown Transit Center. The station opened in 1972 as part of the first section of BART. In 1980–1986, the KE Track project added the third track to the station. Changes during the 2010s included public art at one entrance, a new canopy at another entrance, and opening of a bike station. A modernization project, which began in 2019, includes new elevators and reopened public restrooms. Tempo bus rapid transit service began in 2020.

The First Presbyterian Church of Oakland is a historic church founded in 1853 in Oakland, California. It is a part of the Presbyterian Church (USA). First Presbyterian Church was the first Christian church in Oakland.

Oaksterdam University is self-recognized as the world's first cannabis college. Located in Oakland, CA, the educational facility was founded in November 2007 by medical marijuana activist Richard Lee to offer quality training for the cannabis industry, with a mission to "legitimize the business and work to change the law to make cannabis legal." Its main campus was formerly located in Downtown Oakland, Calif. On March 8, 2020, fire damaged the Oaksterdam campus at which time the brick and mortar location closed. Classes are currently held online only, both asynchronous and in real time. The university has graduated nearly 50,000 students from more than 40 countries.

Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) is a visual and performing arts charter school in Oakland, California, United States. OSA opened in 2002 with a curriculum that integrated college preparatory academics with conservatory-style arts training. As of 2017, enrollment was 725 students in grades 6 through 12. It is a member of the Arts Schools Network and the National Association for College Admission Counseling. In 2009, OSA was named a California Distinguished School. The school is located in the Fox Oakland Theatre building at 530 18th Street at Telegraph Avenue in Uptown Oakland.