Ballet 5:8 Official School to Bring Full-Length Story Ballet to Lincoln Way West

April 16, 2019 ORLAND PARK, IL – Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts, the official school of professional performing company Ballet 5:8 and a recipient of a 2018-2019 season grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, will bring a full-length classical ballet titled The Wayward Daughter to the Chicago South Suburbs this Mother’s Day weekend. The original production will feature up-and-coming artists from the school’s nationally-recognized advanced classical ballet training programs, charming Children’s Cast members from 25+ area communities, custom-designed costumes, dramatic classical music, and choreography by Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager. Performances, which are appropriate for the entire family, will be held at 2pm & 7pm on Saturday, May 11, and at 3pm on Sunday, May 12 at Lincoln-Way West High School Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $18 for adults, and $10 for children 12 and under, and are available at school.ballet58.org or by calling 708-329-8773.

Ballet 5:8, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts organization, is dedicated to innovative storytelling and breathtaking dance. While the professional performing arm, staffed by adult, professional dancers, performs both locally and nationally, Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts’ performances focus on bringing professional arts experiences right here to our local communities. The Wayward Daughter - an original Ballet 5:8 ballet - uses a fairytale setting complete with tutus, pointe shoes, an elegant princess, and some cunning villains to retell the classic story of the Prodigal Son. Advanced-level dancers, who will be featured in lead roles in the production, train 25+ hours per week in Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts’ nationally-recognized Studio Company. Sophia Snider, 16, of New Lenox and a Junior at Lincoln-Way Central will be dancing the lead role of Princess Anne in the production. Zoe Scheiderich, 15, a Chicago area native (homeschooled) will perform the counter role of the evil Duchess. Additional cast members from the Studio Company include dancers who have moved from other states to train with Ballet 5:8, including Oregon, Iowa, Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio. Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts’ spring production is typically attended by a 1,000+ community members from across the Chicago South Suburbs, and those who attend this May will be in for a family-friendly treat in the style of classic ballet productions like The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. The Wayward Daughter follows Princess Anne as she leaves the safety of the castle home she has always known and sets out to explore the world outside, having little knowledge of the perils she will encounter. The powerful drama portrays the extravagant compassion of a loving father who spares nothing in his pursuit of the return of his daughter to safety.

This May’s performances of The Wayward Daughter will culminate Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts’ first semester in their new home off of Wolf Road and 183rd in Orland Park, which opened in January. Ballet 5:8’s professional company and School of the Arts had been located off of LaGrange Road in Frankfort for the past seven years, since the nonprofit’s inception in 2012. The January move to a larger, 12,000 square foot facility with 15-foot ceilings - much more suited to professional level dance than the previous retail space - was an important milestone for Ballet 5:8 and its many constituents from the community. The larger studios are allowing students to dance bigger, jump higher, and take their artistry to the next level under the direction of the professional artists who work as faculty in the School - including in their classes and in rehearsals for The Wayward Daughter. This summer, the new studios will be home to the School’s exciting range of weekly classes, camps and workshops for children and youth as well as a five-week summer intensive attended by 75+ high school and college age dancers from local communities and across the U.S., along with conferences for dance teachers and directors, and for professional dancers.

The creator and choreographer behind The Wayward Daughter, Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager, is one of the co-founders of seven-year-old Ballet 5:8. Slager brings a wealth of experience to her work with both the School of the Arts and the 13-member Ballet 5:8 professional company. The professional company tours nationally in addition to performing in Chicagoland and the Midwest. A Michigan native, Slager enjoyed dancing under Barbara Smith at Greater Lansing Ballet, and also under Kathy Thibodeaux and Sol Maisonet at Ballet Magnificat during her performing career. Beginning in 2014, the Ballet 5:8 professional company began touring nationally, bringing Slager's critically acclaimed ballets such as Scarlet, The Stor(ies) of You and Me, Compass, and The Space in Between to audiences across the nation. Slager is also a groundbreaking figure within the field, as one of the few female 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. Additional assistance in staging and rehearsal for The Wayward Daughter is provided by Ballet 5:8 Trainee Program Director Brette Benedict, a Lead Artist with the professional company and graduate of the Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University, and Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts Conservatory Director Antonio Rosario, also a Lead Artist with the professional company and a graduate of the prestigious Gelsey Kirkland Academy in New York City.