Artistic director Graham Lustig is making huge strides toward restoring Oakland Ballet Company to its former glory. A key component in this cunning plot is the lineup for the spring program, including works from two awesome local choreographers, Amy Seiwert and Sonya Delwaide, and two of Lustig’s own pieces.  

Winner of the 2011 Isadora Duncan award, Sonya Delwaide’s world premiere is an irreverent ballet set to Mozart’s music for the glass harmonica. (Invented by Ben Franklin in 1761, the glass harmonica produces an otherworldly sound from a rolling glass tube. If you’ve never heard of a glass harmonica before, it's probably because it fell out of fashion in the 18th century due to persistent rumors that it drives listeners mad.) (Don't worry, the rumors were never substantiated.) The other world premiere is Lustig’s wordswithinwords, a duet set to music by Philip Glass and inspired by a piece from Oakland poet Robert Duncan. 

Response to Change, Amy Seiwert’s well-received 2009 piece, has a brand new fifth movement for Oakland Ballet’s performance. Staying true to the light, quick feeling of the original, the piece features Seiwert’s deft and inventive motion. For a preview, check out a video here.

May 19-21. Laney College, 900 Fallon Street, Oakland. Tickets are $15-38 at brownpapertickets.com or at the door.