Hear from Ballet 5:8 Apprentice Miranda Rubio as she reflects on her experiences during the 20/21 Season.

Miranda Rubio in Julianna Rubio Slager’s Reckless — *Miranda Rubio in Julianna Rubio Slager’s* Reckless

Pick one word to describe the overall season. Why?

Dayenu. It’s a Hebrew word meaning “It would have been enough” with the followed understanding that God chooses to do more. During what has been a chaotic time in the world the amount of abundance that has been poured out over us here has been astounding. Sure, we’re not dripping in diamonds, but the fact that we’ve been about to take class and rehearse together in person is enough. Then God took it a step further and let us perform outdoors, in a black box theater, and in March even a typical theater stage setting. Doing stuff like this seemed so far out of reach a year ago, but even in all this God has been unshakable in his faithfulness to me and the Ballet 5:8 community.

Can you share a favorite moment from on or offstage?

Oh that’s hard to choose! Reckless provided a lot of fun stage memories. Being in the Greek Chorus we played about 15-20 different characters each act and made backstories for each character. A number of those were inanimate objects, which was funny to think about the thought life of a bed or door. My favorite memory is in Act II—I got to ride a bicycle on stage! It’s one of those crazy things I would have never imagined getting to do, but I’m so glad I did. It was quite the experience swerving my way through the corps de ballet as we all emulated a busy Chicago street.

Out of all the works you performed this season, does one stand out as the most meaningful or most notable for you personally? Why?

We’ve done a lot of new work this season, which for me is amazing. I absolutely adore the choreographic process. One that was really special to create was Mo(u)rning. We started it in our summer residency, mere weeks after the stay-at-home order was lifted. Emotionally it was a very tender moment, and I think you can feel that from the work. Right after the Fall season began, Mo(u)rning took a backseat while we created Golden Sessions and Reckless (both of which are just incredible!). For one of our final spring performances, we brought Golden Sessions back. It truly felt like revisiting an old friend and I really cherished performing it.

The other thing that stands out to me is the opportunity I had to debut as the Storge soloist in Golden Sessions. I was honestly caught off guard; I remember watching the solo be created and thinking “Wow, that looks really hard.” It’s almost beyond words for me to express how honored I was to then have it entrusted to me for that performance.

Is there a particular quote or idea that has been inspirational to you this season?

It’s been a season of “Even in this” for me. With each new twist, roadblock, or victory there was a choice to still praise the Lord. When things looked bleak or hopeless I still had to choose praise, even if the situation was unfair. When things were good it was the same choice to take the glory and give it back to God. Similarly, to keep trusting in Him when He feels close and when He feels far away, in each day choosing to trust Jesus more than I trust my doubts.

What are you up to this summer?

I’m very excited about this summer! I’ll be spending most of it here in Chicago teaching at Ballet 5:8 and at their Summer Intensive. I always feel excited to share what I’ve been learning through the season with all our summer students and to be a part of, and give back to, the program that shaped me into the dancer I am now.