Super surprised and happy.
That was the reaction from Alice Duncan, 16, of Plainfield, when she learned she would be playing the lead role in Ballet 5:8’s holiday production of “Beyond The Nutcracker.”

Just as “The Nutcracker” is a beloved holiday tradition around the world, “Beyond the Nutcracker” has been an annual favorite for Orland Park’s Ballet 5:8. But a unique year that has presented unique challenges is leading to a new spin on an old favorite.

Ballet 5:8 is just days into a run of its version of a Christmas classic that’s venturing into the online realm for the first time.

Ballet 5:8 presents Beyond the Nutcracker in-person and online this December, bringing the joy of the Christmas season to communities in the Chicago South Suburbs and around the world.

March 31, ORLAND PARK - “Shelter-in-place” has turned life upside down across the South Suburbs, but Ballet 5:8 is providing an incredible online program that gives students a bit of normal in the midst of the chaos. Nonprofit Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts provides dance education for over 400 students in the Chicago south suburbs and northwest Indiana, and the studio has become a second home to many of them. So when in-person classes were postponed due to COVID-19, the staff at Ballet 5:8 made an ambitious change -- they would transform their organization to meet the changing needs of their students.

ORLAND PARK, IL – Ballet 5:8 has moved its nationally-recognized professional performing company and dance education center from its seven-year home in Frankfort, IL, to a newly remodeled 12,000 square foot building in Orland Park, IL. The new location, just minutes from I-80 and LaGrange Road and a 35-minute drive from downtown Chicago, is a step up from the company’s previous home and includes five state of the art studios and a dedicated cross-training studio, plus added space and amenities for the company’s 13 professional dancers, expanding local student population, and administrative staff. The new and larger studios will allow Ballet 5:8 to continue to increase the size of its professional performing company - which was recently called the “suburbs’ best kept dance secret” by See Chicago Dance Editor Lauren Warnecke - over time. The new building will also foster continued growth for Ballet 5:8’s education programs for all ages which include hundreds of after-school classes, adult dance and fitness classes, monthly workshops for special needs dancers, and a range of intensives and conferences that attract students, choreographers and dance education leaders from across the country during the summer months. A ribbon cutting ceremony at Ballet 5:8’s new location, facilitated by the Orland Park Chamber of Commerce, will be held on Thursday, February 21 from 5-7pm and is open to the public.

FRANKFORT, IL – Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts, the dance education center of professional performing company Ballet 5:8, will bring its signature rendition of The Nutcracker to Lincoln Way West High School on December 15-16.  Ballet 5:8, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Frankfort, is dedicated to engaging communities in Chicago, the Midwest and across the nation in conversation of life and faith through innovative storytelling and breathtaking dance. The company’s Beyond the Nutcracker features 150 local cast members from its nationally-recognized classical ballet training programs, all custom-designed costumes and sets, and lead roles danced by guest artists from the Ballet 5:8 professional company including Lead Artists Antonio Rosario and Brette Benedict, and Company Artist Sam Opsal. This Ballet 5:8 twist on the classic Nutcracker invites audiences to join Emma for a magical adventure that leads from World War II London to the very first Christmas. Performances are at 2pm & 7pm on Saturday, December 15, and at 3pm on Sunday, December 16 at Lincoln Way West High School Performing Arts Center. An additional performance this year will be held on Saturday, December 1 at 4pm at Valparaiso High School in Valparaiso, Indiana.

VALPARAISO, IN – This December, local students attending classes at Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts’ Valparaiso Satellite Campus will be performing in Ballet 5:8’s first-ever performance of Beyond the Nutcracker held in Indiana, at Valparaiso High School. The company’s signature twist on the classic Nutcracker ballet features local cast members from its dance education programs, all custom-designed costumes and sets, original choreography by Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager, and lead roles danced by guest artists from the Ballet 5:8 professional company including Lead Artists Antonio Rosario and Brette Benedict, and Company Artist Sam Opsal. This Ballet 5:8 twist on the classic Nutcracker invites audiences to join Emma for a magical adventure that leads from World War II London to the very first Christmas. The single Valparaiso performance will be held on Saturday, December 1 at 4pm at Valparaiso High School. Additional performances will be held on December 15-16 at Lincoln Way West High School in New Lenox, IL.