Welcome to the enchanting world of Ballet 5:8’s 2024-2025 season. I invite you to allow yourself the margin to gather, belong and become. This season we will take you on a journey where the threads of perception and truth intertwine. Immerse yourself in the haunting narrative of La Llorona, where perceptions shift like shadows in the night. Venture deep into The Cave where truths lie concealed amidst swirling illusions, challenging our very notions of reality.

Join us for our beloved classic, The Space in Between, based on C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, as well as a new classical ballet, Celestia. These ballets explore heaven, hell and the liminal space between them.

We are proud to commission a new ballet by renowned choreographer Seyong Kim, and will also be collaborating with Chicago a capella for a series of live music and dance performances based on Lamentations. We eagerly await our dance and poetry collaboration with theater group Overshadowed. This new and and theater experience will be based on Maya Angelou's timeless poem The Caged Bird Sings. Additionally, we commemorate the tenth anniversary of Beyond the Nutcracker, a landmark production that continues to captivate audiences with its enduring charm and innovation.

Last but not at all least, we invite you to join us at a festival hosted by the Kehrein Center in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, "Struggle and Resilience: Celebrating Black and Latina Women in the Arts." This festival honors the profound contributions of Black and Latina women to the arts. As we celebrate women in dance, we will also celebrate our Emerging Artist Showcase with it’s new home at the Logan Center.

I could not be more proud of what we have planned for this season and I sincerely hope it will bring you hope, challenge your assumptions and allow you space to become.

Julianna Rubio Slager
Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Ballet 5:8