BALLET 5:8 BRINGS HOPE THROUGH ONLINE BALLET, BUTTERFLY
4/16/2020April 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