BALLET 5:8 BRINGS HOPE THROUGH ONLINE  BALLET, ​BUTTERFLY 

April 14th, ​ORLAND PARK​ — Providing art has certainly looked different since the shelter-in-place  order took place in Illinois, but Ballet 5:8 continues to find new ways to share its mission with  communities across the nation and the world. Starting on April 19th at 12pm CST until the end of  the day on April 21, in honor of Days of Remembrance, Ballet 5:8 will present a special film  version of Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager’s ​Butterfly ​ ,  available for anyone and everyone. Slager’s acclaimed work,  which premiered in Chicago March 7, recreates gripping  scenes from the WWII Terezin ghetto, where residents created  masterful works of art in defiance of their oppressors. The  ballet offers hope in the midst of even the darkest  circumstances. Actual art created in the ghetto will be  presented as part of this film production. 

Butterfly ​ will be Ballet 5:8’s second online performance this  season after an overwhelming positive response to the film  production of Slager’s ​The Space in Between ​ on March 28. All  those who reserve their ticket to see ​Butterfly ​ will receive a  special link to watch this limited-time-only performance and  will include Ballet 5:8’s signature Q&A Talkback live on Facebook and YouTube with Slager on  April 19 at 3pm. Tickets are by donation and all proceeds go towards Ballet 5:8’s 2019/20 Benefit  Campaign and Artists Fund. Performance information is available at ​ballet58.org/butterfly​.   Slager’s gripping ​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.”   Lauren Warnecke of See Chicago Dance, on the Chicago premiere of ​Butterfly ​ , “Slager draws  from Dicker-Brandeis’ spirit—the art teacher, whose secret instruction of children in the ghetto is  considered among the origins of expressive art therapies, died in Auschwitz—to create a sense  of optimism and hope amongst the cast. That, I was not expecting, nor was I expecting to enjoy a  balletic treatment of this weighty topic. Ballet 5:8, after all, is not just another dance company.”  

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. 

ABOUT BALLET 5:8 – Founded in 2012, Ballet 5:8 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization based  just outside of Chicago, IL. The mission of Ballet 5:8 is to engage communities in Chicago, the  Midwest and across the nation in conversation of life and faith through innovative storytelling and  breathtaking dance.  

Contact: Lydia Benedict  Email: ​lbenedict@ballet58.org​ | Phone: 312-725-4752 | Web: ballet58.org   Release Date: April 14, 202