Choreographer Michael Lowe couldn't say no when the Oakland Ballet asked him to step in as a guest artistic director in the wake of founder Ronn Guidi's sudden resignation in April. Lowe became a star dancer under the direction of the much-admired Guidi, who had returned in 2007 to resurrect the company that had lost its mojo and folded two years earlier.

Lowe and another Oakland Ballet veteran, ballerina Jenna McClintock, have been hired on an interim basis to keep the company dancing until a permanent artistic director is found to succeed Guidi, whose unexpected departure for "personal reasons" resulted in the cancellation of a planned spring program celebrating the centennial of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. Now, under the guest artistic directorship of Lowe and McClintock, the remainder of the 2009 season will consist of a two-night program in October featuring the work of noted local choreographers, among them Val Caniparoli and Alonzo King, and a "Nutcracker" produced in collaboration with Peninsula Ballet Theatre.

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Born on 31 October 1949 in the East Riding village of Cottingham (also the birthplace of Sir Brian Rix and burial place of Philip Larkin), he was accepted into the Royal Ballet School at the age of 15 and joined the Royal Ballet three years later in 1968. There he made rapid progress, dancing central roles in ballets by Frederick Ashton (Cinderella, Symphonic Variations, The Two Pigeons) and MacMillan (Romeo and Juliet), and was made a principal in 1975. The same year he joined the touring sister company, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet).

This expanded his repertoire considerably: from the fickle-hearted Franz in Coppélia to the regal Oberon in The Dream, from the classical grandeur of Raymonda to the neo-classicism of The Four Temperaments. He also had many roles created on him: by the company's then-director Peter Wright (Summertide), the present director David Bintley (Swan of Tuonela, Night Moves, Homage to Chopin) and Michael Corder (Three Pictures).

Just as Ballet Kelowna was getting ready to start upon a new season, they received word that gaming grant money they rely on was not coming through.

So along with all the regular work that comes with a new round of performances, they’re forced to take on another challenge — coming to terms with how to move forward with $20,000 less. "Those funds are used to directly pay the six professional dancers at the company,” said Alison Moore, development manager for the ballet. “It’s not as simple as cancelling a performance, because our professional dancers move to Kelowna and sign contracts to work for 34 weeks a year. So if we cancel performances, we still have to pay our dancers.”

White also credited the addition of pre-performance promotions like Family Night and American Girl Night, and special offers such as “Free Kids on the Lawn” and “$10 Students on the Lawn” as making shows more affordable for families and young concert-goers.

Attendance for the entire classical season at SPAC was up this year. The biggest success was the two-week residency of the New York City Ballet, which saw a 24 percent increase in average attendance.