Ayako School of Ballet

Ayako School of Ballet offers training in Classical Ballet, Modern Dance, and Jazz. Students take part in an annual Showcase performance, a Nutcracker production, and the ASB Gala and School Showcase each year.

• Schedule: Each season begins with the annual Nutcracker production and ends with the ASB Gala and School Showcase in June.

Ayako School of Ballet has been bringing Classical Ballet, Modern Dance, and Jazz to local Bay Area communities. The school will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, after starting in Watsonville, California in 1976 and later relocating to the Peninsula. All staff are professionally trained dancers, and many staff members previously danced at Ayako School of Ballet as students. The school is affiliated with Peninsula Youth Ballet, a non-profit company led by Ayako Takahashi, who has been Artistic Director of Peninsula Youth Ballet since 1987 and provides additional professional training through this affiliation. Since 2021, Ayako School of Ballet has presented the Nutcracker annually in December, with auditions each September for the upcoming Nutcracker season, and all dancers from Beginning students and higher levels are invited to audition. The annual Showcase performance each June includes dance numbers from all classes and gives each student stage experience. The school currently serves San Mateo, Belmont, and greater Peninsula families and has had hundreds of families find a place to call home there. Expertise evaluated 222 ballet teachers in San Jose, California, and selected Ayako School of Ballet among the Top 17 in 2021. Their YouTube channel has passed 150 subscribers.

Last updated June 21, 2026.