Diablo Ballet Presents ONCE UPON A TIME

Diablo Ballet celebrates 25 years with a new full-length ballet from Julia Adam, accompanied live by the Contra Costa Wind Symphony at the Lesher Center for the Arts, March 22-23.

Join Diablo Ballet on this fairytale adventure where you will meet Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and more. This world premiere ballet is choreographed by renowned dance maker, Julia Adam, who first danced with the National Ballet of Canada and then with the San Francisco Ballet from 1988 - 2002. Ms. Adam has created over 60 works for numerous companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. The costumes are being designed and created by Mario Alonzo, former principal dancer, choreographer, costume designer and Ballet Master for Oakland Ballet. Mr. Alonzo has designed costumes for many prestigious choreographers around the country. The music is comprised of sections from George Gershwin's "An American in Paris" and Benjamin Britten's "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" and will be accompanied live by the Contra Costa Wind Symphony under the direction of Brad Hogarth, Music Director and Conductor. Artistic Director, Lauren Jonas adds, "Collaborations are a very important part of Diablo Ballet's mission and I'm thrilled to work with the Contra Costa Wind Symphony under the baton of Brad Hogarth. In addition, story ballets that utilize a small cast of exceptional dancers have been a unique part of Diablo Ballet's history and Julia Adam is a wonderful story teller."

Diablo Ballet's March program will also include a short film retrospective by award-winning filmmaker, Walter Yamazaki, about the company's history featuring alumni interviews and performance clips.

Children in attendance are invited to dress up as their favorite fairytale character and stay and meet the dancers after the performances. Prior to the Saturday matinee, ticket holders are invited to a free Story Time at Bedford Gallery at 1 pm. Mayor Cindy Silva and costumed performers will bring the story of Cinderella to life. Prior to the Saturday evening performance, ticket holders are invited to a pre-show happy hour at Massimo Ristorante at 6:30 pm with Artistic Director, Lauren Jonas and choreographer, Julia Adam.

Once Upon a Time performs March 22 at 6:30 pm and March 23 at 2 pm & 8 pm at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.

Single tickets are $15-$50. For tickets, call 925-943-SHOW (7469) or visit www.lesherartscenter.org. For more information, visit www.diabloballet.org.

For 25 years, Diablo Ballet has been the award-winning, professional dance company for Contra Costa County. Presenting acclaimed classical and contemporary ballets, the company is committed to exposing youth to the arts through its renowned PEEK Outreach Programs which have reached over 68,000 underserved school children in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties since 1995. In addition, Diablo Ballet has served hundreds of at-risk teenage girls incarcerated within the Juvenile Justice system since 2015.