Art becomes a powerful voice in Struggle and Resilience, an inspiring evening dedicated to honoring the courage, creativity, and triumph of Black and Latina women in the arts. Through the medium of dance, spoken word, and music, this performance highlights their stories of strength and perseverance while celebrating their incredible contributions to art and culture.
Featured Performances
The Caged Bird Sings: A multidisciplinary masterpiece inspired by Maya Angelou’s iconic poem, choreographed by Julianna Rubio Slager with original script by Kady Debelak. This work, created entirely by Black and Latina women, radiates resilience and freedom.
Frida Kahlo Excerpt: A contemporary dance piece inspired by painter Frida Kahlo. Through embodied research, Silvita Diaz Brown aims to connect their experiences to the present, inspiring a broader understanding of collective identities and futures
Transcendence: Tobin James’s reflective ballet on rising above adversity, embodying the unbreakable human spirit.
What’s a Woman Worth: A spoken word and movement collaboration inspired by Quina Aragon’s powerful poetry, exploring identity, strength, and purpose.
New Work by Rachel Hutsell: A bold and innovative piece by former New York City Ballet dancer Rachel Hutsell, honoring the complexity of modern womanhood.
Join us for an unforgettable evening that uplifts the voices of Black and Latina women, celebrating their artistry and resilience in the face of struggle. Together, we honor their legacies and look toward a future shaped by hope and creativity.
Rachel Hutsell, a Houston, TX native, is an accomplished professional ballet dancer known for her grace, versatility, and commanding stage presence. She began her career with New York City Ballet in 2015, where she honed her artistry under the guidance of one of the world’s premier ballet companies. In 2023, Rachel transitioned to performing with State Street Ballet and is now a celebrated Principal Guest Artist based in Southern California.
Rachel’s career spans both stage and screen. In 2018, she was featured in Ballet Now, a critically acclaimed documentary directed by Steven Cantor. The following year, she served as the dance double for the character "Anita" in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated West Side Story, further showcasing her dynamic talent and adaptability.
Her contributions to the arts have garnered significant media attention, including features in Women’s Wear Daily and Dance Spirit. Rachel also graced the cover of Pointe Magazine's June/July 2018 issue, which highlighted her emerging prominence in the world of ballet.
As a Principal Guest Artist, Rachel continues to bring her artistry to new audiences, captivating them with her dedication to the craft and her ability to infuse classical ballet with contemporary storytelling.
Julianna Rubio Slager is a Chicana and dedicated advocate for minority women in the arts. She began her dance training at a local studio in Spring Arbor, Michigan. She went on to study under notable teachers from the New York City Ballet, the Vaganova Academy, and Puerto Rican National Ballet. Rubio Slager enjoyed dancing under Barbara Smith at Greater Lansing Ballet, and also under Kathy Thibodeaux and Sol Maisonet at Ballet Magnificat. Upon moving to Chicago, Rubio Slager had the opportunity to work as a freelance artist, teacher, and choreographer in the Greater Chicago area.
Rubio Slager co-founded Ballet 5:8 in 2012 and is known for her unique ability to engage audiences in discussions of life and faith through choreography. She has created over 50 works for the Company and School during her tenure at Ballet 5:8. She has had the privilege of working daily at the School of Ballet 5:8 and has guest taught at over 100 schools across the United States. In 2023 Rubio Slager was awarded the coveted position of National Visiting Fellow at the School of American Ballet.
Ballet 5:8 tours nationally, bringing Rubio Slager's critically acclaimed ballets such as Reckless, Butterfly, The Space in Between and BareFace to audiences across the nation. Slager has won several grants from the Illinois Arts Council and was selected for the DCASE Individual Artist Grant in 2015. In 2023 she was a finalist for the Chicago DanceMaker's Forum. Rubio Slager is a groundbreaking figure within the field, as one of the few Mexican American Artistic Directors and Resident Choreographers of professional ballet companies in the world. She hopes that her leadership and creative work at Ballet 5:8 will pave the way for other women and minorities in professional ballet.
Quina Aragon is an author, editor, and spoken word artist residing in Orlando, FL.
Over the past 10 years, Quina has worked as a digital content writer, copy editor, and book author, covering topics in art, culture, life issues, faith, advocacy, and more. As a creative writer with a dedication to precision and authenticity, she has leveraged her skills across industries and platforms to produce dynamic content that tells meaningful stories.
Quina has been featured on numerous podcasts and has had the privilege of speaking at various conferences, as well as providing voice-overs to multiple clients. Her work spans industries, such as music, art, fashion, non-profit, film, and literary publishing. She has helped create projects through her writing, editing, offering creative vision, and/or performing for clients like Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, Vū Virtual Production Studios, The Good Book Company, Harvest House, Bethany House Publishers, Risen Motherhood, The And (&) Campaign, She Reads Truth, Training Leaders International, and many more.
Silvita Diaz Brown is a Mexican/American choreographer, dancer, teacher and director of Sildance/AcroDanza. Based in Chicago since 2008, She holds a BFA in Dance from Universidad de Las Américas Puebla in Mexico and an MFA in Theatre/Choreography from York University in Toronto Canada. For the last 15 years, her interdisciplinary dance-theater work has been supported and presented by many arts organizations, festivals and venues in Chicago and abroad. Silvita has toured her dance works in Cuba, Spain, India, Mexico, Canada, and within the USA. She uses her art to celebrate her Mexican heritage and to awaken insights that empower women and ancestry. Her work interlaces dance with acrobatics, sound, text and video, using both English and Spanish language. Diaz Brown's interdisciplinary work investigates the self: its desires, fears and realizations and how they intersect with societal norms and expectations. She is also compelled by the ways that mysticism, history and mythology can reveal heroic aspects of our humanity. Her goal is to discover and articulate deep strengths and insights that inspire audiences to feel empowered in their identities and futures no matter where they come from.
Kady Debelak is thankful to have the opportunity to present this project that started as a competition opportunity for her students and blossomed into a full-fledged collaboration. What a joy to create art with fellow believers dedicated to bringing excellence and a clear message to the stage! She is so thankful that Chicagoland and beyond have access to the high quality, intentional, thought and spirit provoking productions of Ballet 5:8. This collaboration with Julianna and her talented dancers has truly been a dream! When she is not daydreaming about the multitude of theatrical possibilities yet to explore, Kady enjoys performing on stage in previous appearances that include Fiddler on the Roof, Willy Wonka, Singing in the Rain, And Then There Were None, and many others. While she enjoys any opportunity to be on stage, she most often takes the role of Director of her elementary and high school students she teaches at LCCA or at camp programs directing for Overshadowed Productions. She also loves working at Overshadowed directing projects like Overshadowed Valentine’s concert series and Shakespeare in the Park. Overshadowed is her theatrical ‘home away from home’ and she’s so thankful for the friendships, teamwork, and support of her amazing cast of students and Overshadowed performers as well as this new friendship with Ballet 5:8! Ad Dei gloriam!
Tobin James is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and educator with a distinguished career in modern dance. Currently an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), she holds a BFA in modern dance, an MA in higher education administration, and a certification from the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. A former member of PHILADANCO and the Martha Graham Ensemble, Tobin has performed works by renowned choreographers including Martha Graham, Pearl Lang, and Mona Störling-Enna.
Her extensive career includes serving as associate artistic director of Störling Dance Theater, choreographing for esteemed organizations like Ballet Magnificat and Philadanco, and touring nationally as a featured dance artist with The Young Messiah and Emmanuel Tours. Tobin is also the co-choreographer and associate producer of Underground, a celebrated production by Störling Dance Theater.
A dedicated educator and advocate, she launched The Pendleton Dance Project in 2020, addressing social issues through dance, and is a contributing author to the Journal of Dance Education’s Special Issue on Race and Dance Education.