Welcome to Lareen Fender’s The Ballet School Performing Arts
Since 1976, The Ballet School has been a home for generations of students and families in Walnut Creek. My grandmother, Lareen Fender, founded it with a deep love of teaching and a belief that the arts could shape a person’s life far beyond the classroom.
Lareen was known for her attention to detail, her respect for tradition, and the care she gave every student. She taught excellent technique, but she also taught discipline, commitment, self-respect, and respect for others. She created a place where children could be children, artists could grow, and people could discover what they were capable of.
I know the power of that place firsthand. I grew up here, training with my grandmother, and have led the school since 2001. What I learned in these classrooms went far beyond ballet. I learned to express myself, tell stories, work hard, support others, and find confidence in who I was becoming. Those lessons continue to guide me as I carry Lareen’s legacy forward.
Today, students find their way here through dance, music, theatre, or all three. Whatever brings them through our doors, I want them to feel that they belong. We welcome people of all backgrounds and abilities, and we work to create a place where kindness and encouragement matter more than ego or negative talk. Even on a difficult day, I want every student to know they can come here, feel supported, and keep growing into the best version of themselves.
Our alumni have taken these lessons in many directions. Some have performed with ballet companies, on Broadway, on cruise ships, for Disney, and in film and television. Others have become doctors, lawyers, professors, teachers, engineers, executives, pilots and parents. Their paths are different, but each is part of the story of this school.
The Ballet School Performing Arts is our home away from home. I am proud of the artistry we teach, the people we help shape, and the joy that fills these rooms. It is my pleasure to welcome you into the family.
Live Joy. Create Hope.
Sincerely,
Jenny
First, let me say we have been MORE than impressed with how you all have handled the chaos of 2020. As a teacher myself, I’ve been so impressed at how all the TBSPA teachers have kept my kiddo engaged on Zoom, still moving and still loving dance. Additionally, we are so impressed with the slow, cautious and safe way the reopening is being handled – I honestly feel more safe sending my daughter back for in-person ballet than I do with academic school plans to reopen.
Thank you for all your work to keep the community connected. It means SO MUCH to the kids and parents.
I grew up dancing at The Ballet School, from age 5 through high school. I now happily attend classes as an adult, and the magical family feeling is still there as strong as ever. The studio has expanded in so many ways, and the new classes offered are so fun. Beyond ballet, I have enjoyed tap and musical theater dance! The teachers and staff are fun, and the place is always packed. Check it out – I think you’ll have a blast!
MEET OUR FACULTY!
DA:NCE Awareness Healthy Dance Studio
During the last decade, there has been a cultural shift from healthy educational children’s dance to harmful hypersexualized children’s dance by using adult costumes, sexually suggestive choreography, and music with inappropriate sexual themes and/or lyrics.
The Ballet School Performing Arts is proud to be recognized as a SAFE STUDIO by the “HEALTHY DA:NCE” organization. We are committed to providing a safe space for our students to training in an age-appropriate, safe environments that will not sexualize and/or exploit them.
The Ballet Joyeux
The Ballet Joyeux is the performing Company of The Ballet School. This well-established Company, led by San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award and Shellie Award Winner, Jennifer Perry has been performing for the past fifty years throughout the Bay Area. The company repertoire includes such productions as Luminous: The Symphony Of Us, La La Land, Beatles Tribute, Frank Sinatra Tribute, Star Wars Ballet, Tribute to Joplin, Tribute To Queen, Tribute To Billy Joel, Carmen, On The Town & West Side Story Montage, Etudes, Peter, Petra and The Wolf, Concert Waltzes, and Rodeo. The Company has performed with Diablo Symphony, and continues to perform throughout the year in Spring Concerts, Annual Demonstrations, Once Upon A Christmas, and more.
The Ballet Joyeux Company has become a beloved treasure to families throughout Contra Costa County, and many of the company’s dancers have gone on to professional theater and dance careers throughout the United States and Europe. Each December, The Ballet Joyeux is proud to present ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS, a delightful narrated holiday ballet, which allows audience members of all ages to pass across the threshold of make-believe into a world where dreams can and do come true by learning to first believe in oneself.
Sponsor a Student (Theatre, Music, Dance)
We believe in the positive power the arts can have in someone’s life. The Ballet School Performing Arts would never want to turn away a student who is eager to learn because of financial limitations. The Ballet School Performing Arts annually gifts over $100,000 in class scholarships for Dance, Music, and Theatre. The “Sponsor a Student” fund has been an essential resource to help provide scholarships to students in need. With your support we can continue to help future generations pursue their passion through training. If you are interested in Sponsoring a Student that is committed to their dance, music or theatre training please click the link below.
Lareen Fender Scholarship Fund
July 25th, 1932 – August 25th, 2011
In loving memory and in tribute to Lareen, The Lareen Fender Memorial Scholarship Fund “If You Can Dream It, You Can Become It” Scholarship has been established and will be awarded to a college-bound Lareen Fender The Ballet School Performing Arts student, who has shown passion and dedication in their training, to assist with expenses for their continuing education.
Miss Lareen passed away very peacefully on Thursday, August 25th, 2011. She was surrounded by her family, and in the most peaceful setting of her own home in Lafayette, CA. She left this earth with GRACE, DIGNITY, and STRENGTH. Her presence will forever be felt here at The Ballet School and her teachings will continue far into the future.
She really is a bright star in the sky.
She will be missed greatly.
We will always love her deeply.
Her legacy will continue.
A LIFE well lived. A great example to all of us.
“It’s very clear, our love is here to stay, not for a year, but ever and a day.”
If you would like to make a donation in Lareen’s Memory, please send to:
Lareen Fender Memorial Scholarship Fund
1131 Locust Street
Walnut Creek CA, 94596
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
2012 Olivia Trevarthen
2013 Lauryn Sloan
2014 Guilia Marinos
2015 Katia Coate
2016 Tess Cameron
2017 Lara May and Katie Sovik
2018 Kailee Sanderson
2019 Sofia Odeste
2020 Elysse Hammami
2021 Emily Tatum
2022 Molly Howard
2023 Caleigh Tran
2024 Stella Noe and Sofia Weber
2025 Allegra Ciarlantini
2026 Evelyn Katz
Andrew Joseph McKenney
November 20, 2003 – May 30,2022
LIVE JOY CREATE HOPE Scholarship
Established in June of 2022
AJ understood these 4 words on a very deep level. He lived them. He was a great example of someone who always was thinking of others. He was quiet and kind. Curious and driven. He was witty and caring. AJ LIVED with JOY and CREATED HOPE in others every single day of his life. Even in the last moments of his earthly life. Beyond that, AJ continues to inspire all of us through his memory of generosity and kindness.
This scholarship is meant to help a graduating senior further there personal drive to learn. There is a lot of HOPE in this scholarship. This scholarship is meant to honor someone who truly understands the meaning of these 4 words and how they will use them in there everyday life moving forward.
Letter to TBS Forever Family From Miss Jenny
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
2022 Islay Morrison
2023 Aria Donthineni
2024 Grace Sciacqua and Cassidy Keely
2025 Claire Young
2026 Julia Laskowski and Lani O’Shaughnessy
Richard Louis James
April 5, 1944 – October 5, 2025
Richard Louis James was born in 1944 in the city of Vallejo in Solano County, California. He always wanted to be an actor. “I must have been four years old, and I told my father after watching a western on television that that was what I wanted to do.”Richard James Was a longtime pillar of the East Bay Theatre Community, as an Actor, Writer, and Director.
The Richard Louis James Scholarship was created to support students with a strong passion for the performing arts who may need financial assistance to participate in our programs. This scholarship honors dedication, creativity, and a willingness to contribute positively to our artistic community.
To Apply for this Scholarship please fill and return the Richard Louis James Scholarship Application.
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
2026 Olive Pate
Contribute to our Scholarships
To contribute to one of these scholarships use the link to contribute through Venmo.
Please include the name of the scholarship you intend to fund in the subject line.
or
Call (925) 934-2133 to donate over the phone.