Oakland Ballet

Fri/14-Sun/16, Calvin Simmons Theatre

OAKLAND BALLET RETURNS just in time to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Artistic director Karen Brown has managed to put the company back on its feet and into a new theater too. This season's opening program is both a bow to Oakland's past and an indication of where Brown wants to take her dancers. Her interest in pushing ballet in new directions – both in terms of the audiences she hopes to attract and the choreographers she wants to showcase – is most promising. Donald McKayle is a case in point. McKayle is a legend in American dance from his days with Martha Graham, his own modern dance company, and his many years on Broadway. For Oakland Ballet he created Ella, a world-premiere tribute to the great singer Ella Fitzgerald. The music will be performed live by the Marcus Shelby Quartet with singer Ledisi. Former Oakland Ballet dancer Michael Lowe, who in a few years has blossomed into a choreographer with a distinct voice, will reprise Double Happiness with the Melody of China orchestra. But both these artists will have their hands full competing with treasures from the past: excerpts from Bronislava Nijinska's Les Biches and Les Noces, and that superlative American-style early ballet classic, Eugene Loring's 1938 Billy the Kid. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., 10 Tenth St., Oakl. $7-$54. (866)-468-3399, www.oaklandballet.org. (Rita Felciano)