“Ron Guidi and the company were one and the same until his retirement in 1998, after which things began to fall apart, for a variety of reasons, and Oakland Ballet officially died. Last year, Guidi purchased the entire treasure trove of costumes and sets from the company he founded in 1965, raised the money to hire dancers, musicians from the Oakland East Bay Symphony and rent the Paramount, and even found a corporate sponsor, Chevron, which offered to help fill the house with hundreds of local families.”