Ballet 5:8 In Orland Park With A Story Of Defiant Hope In The Holocaust

Ballet 5:8 celebrates its new facility in Orland Park and the many community members who made it possible with a weekend of intimate black box in-studio performances and the Chicagoland premiere of Butterfly. Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager’s newest work recreates the gripping scenes of the WWII Terezin ghetto, where residents created masterful works of art in defiance of their oppressors. The performances will also feature Slager’s playful Brothers & Sisters exploring the beauty and contrast of men and women. 

The performances will be held on Saturday, October 12 at 3pm and 6pm, and on Sunday, October 13 at 3pm and 6 pm at Ballet 5:8 Studios, 11545 183rd Pl Ste 101, Orland Park, IL 60467. Performances include a post-performance Q&A with Slager and artists from the cast.

Slager’s gripping work Butterfly looks back on WWII Terezin where, from the ashes of this hellscape, glimmers of hope emerge.  In Terezin, a Jewish art teacher refused to let the children die without hope. She challenged her students to create art that spoke of their misery but also of the hope that lies within. Every human, male or female, desirable or marginalized, born of privilege or born of poverty, each one is precious and created with purpose. Slager says, ”The remnants of art from the nearly forgotten children of Terezin challenge us to look with clear eyes upon our potential for both evil and beauty.” 

Ballet 5:8, the only mid-sized professional ballet company between Chicago and Peoria, has successfully performed in Chicago as well as across the country. Lauren Warnacke of See Chicago Dance, reviewing Ballet 5:8’s The Space in Between at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, called Ballet 5:8 the “suburbs’ best kept dance secret,” also noting both “the passion that resonates from its mission” and its “serious, talented dancers.” In Grand Rapids, Ken Norris of WKTV Journal said The Space in Between “does not disappoint” and that “Slager successfully uses the thematic power of C.S. Lewis’ story The Great Divorce...”. 

Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer Julianna Rubio Slager is co-founder of Ballet 5:8 and brings a wealth of experience to her work. Ballet 5:8 began touring nationally in 2014 and brought Slager's critically acclaimed ballets to audiences across the nation. As a female minority, Slager hopes that her leadership and creative work at Ballet 5:8 will pave the way for other diverse women in professional ballet.