Ballet 5:8

Description

Ballet 5:8 is a female and minority-led premiere ballet company recognized for remarkable artistic excellence, innovation and beauty. Mexican-American Artistic Director, Julianna Rubio Slager, creates original and dynamic ballet experiences drawing from life, faith, current events and diverse perspectives that tell relevant stories of the 21st century. Slager brings to life ballets that are relatable and accessible to all people, delighting both the seasoned balletomane and first time audiences. Since its founding in 2012, Ballet 5:8 has presented more than 45 critically acclaimed ballets forging a robust repertoire, engaging and captivating communities in Chicago, the Midwest and across the nation. Headquartered in Orland Park, IL, Ballet 5:8 is the only performing arts company in Chicago’s South Suburbs and serves as a cultural staple in the community. The company also offers the highest caliber of dance education at The School of Ballet 5:8 raising up the next generation of aspiring artists.

Programs include both traditional theater engagements, as well as interactive programs for children and youth of all ages. Ballet 5:8 also offers workshops, masterclasses and seminars for ballet dancers, ballet lovers and dance educators.

For more information about Ballet 5:8, visit Ballet58.org and connect on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

Work Sample

Ballet 5:8's repertoire includes work that spans the ballet genres, with contemporary, classical, and theatrical works of all shapes and sizes. The three work samples submitted represent the incredible span of our 45 ballets and gives presenters a glimpse into the variety and depth of a Ballet 5:8 performance. Gospel Impressions shows our abstract, neoclassical repertoire, Butterfly showcases a glimpse into our narrative works, and Día de Los Vivos shows Rubio Slager's unique voice as a Latina choreographer.

https://youtu.be/LPZ0boINrSE

Gospel Impressions by Julianna Rubio Slager is inspired by the artwork of celebrated Japanese visual artist, Makoto Fujimura. His exquisite paintings depict the Four Holy Gospels and are layered, colorful, and nuanced. Rubio Slager takes his work as a base and fleshes out both his inspiration and painting with movement and geometry that further illuminate the gospel stories. The ballet is 32mn and can be performed with a live orchestra, or the two piano version of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Rubio Slager's neoclassical, layered visual aesthetic interweaves moments of story with abstractions and whimsical representations of Fujimura's paintings. More information at ballet58.org/repertoire/gospel-impressions

Butterfly is a ballet based on the story of Holocaust survivor, Helga Weiss. Helga was held in the Terezin ghetto during World War II, and her story outlines a unique tale of bravery and resistance through art. The children of Terezin created incredible paintings under the tutelage of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. Rubio Slager's one-act ballet is a well-researched piece that brings the stories of the Terezin ghetto to life through dance, poetry from Terezin and projections of original artwork by the children of Terezin.

Rubio Slager incorporates music that was composed in Terezin, as well as excerpts of Verdi's Requiem which was performed by the people of Terezin as an act of resistance.

Día de Los Vivos is a 10mn ballet that tackles the difficult topic of suicide. Rubio Slager opens up about her own difficult battle with clinical depression through the lense of her Mexican heritage. Día de Los Vivos follows the story of a young woman who is depressed, and recently lost her best friend to suicide. On the evening of Día de Los Muertos, her ancestors and best friend appear from beyond the grave encouraging her to choose life even through her pain. More information at ballet58.org/repertoire/dia-de-los-vivos

History

Ballet 5:8 is a female and minority-led premiere ballet company recognized for remarkable artistic excellence, innovation and beauty. Mexican-American Artistic Director, Julianna Rubio Slager, creates original and dynamic ballet experiences drawing from life, faith, current events and diverse perspectives that tell relevant stories of the 21st century. Slager brings to life ballets that are relatable and accessible to all people, delighting both the seasoned balletomane and first time audiences. Since its founding in 2012, Ballet 5:8 has presented more than 45 critically acclaimed ballets forging a robust repertoire, engaging and captivating communities in Chicago, the Midwest and across the nation. Headquartered in Orland Park, IL, Ballet 5:8 is the only performing arts company in Chicago’s South Suburbs and serves as a cultural staple in the community.

Artistic Vision

We believe that the arts add an essential quality to our lived experience. Good art causes the viewer to pause their lives and contemplate. Sometimes, the cultural moment demands an exploration of the brokenness we experience and at other times, boldly asks the viewer to consider the hope of good things still to come. Art can scrub the layers of grime from the pollution of daily life and bring us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and those around us. This deeper understanding is the catalyst for empathy, kindness and justice, qualities that we desperately need for a flourishing society. Ballet 5:8's performances are known to challenge and uplift the audience in a way that transcends the theater and makes its way into the most important issues of our communities.

Programs for Specific Audience(s) Expertise

Ballet 5:8 loves to present work for children and youth. We have several interactive programs that invite children into a world where they can both view and participate in the ballet they are watching. In the words of one twelve year-old boy, "Ballet 5:8 is making ballet cool." Our team of artists are invested in helping young people to see, feel, touch and participate in the joy of dance. We provide programs every year in libraries, outdoor setting, festivals and sensory-friendly black box experiences that are tailored to children and youth of all ages.

Traditional Folk/Ethnic Artform Statement

I love ballet and want to see it thrive in the 21st century. It will not thrive if we run on the nostalgia of past work, it must be adapted in to this new generation and it must begin to create a new mythology for the modern age. As a Latina, I do not always see my voice and perspective reflected in the creative world.

Choreographers have tended to be white males that choreograph as an end cap to a successful career as a dancer with a large and influential company. Their work reflects only the world that they inhabit and the stories they tell tend to reflect the history of ballet or the cultural space of New York, London, Moscow or Paris. For ballet to push past its insular and elitist history, new voices and experiences need to be brought to the stage that are reflections of a more diverse world, a world that thrives with minority voices. - Julianna Rubio Slager