Ballet Company Wants To Create Conversation Through Its Art

Celestia. Photo provided by Ballet 5:8.
Celestia. Photo provided by Ballet 5:8.

Ballet Company Wants To Create Conversation Through Its Art

By Tia Carol Jones

A ballet company in the South Suburbs is bringing the stories of real people to the stage through dance. The Ballet 5:8, located in Orland Park, was founded in 2012 because there was a need for more high-level classical ballet companies that create art and conversation around current issues.

On Thursday, Aug. 22nd, Ballet 5:8 will premiere The BIOS Project at the David and Reva Logan Center for the Arts. The BIOS Project elevates the stories of real women – displacement, injustice, survival and transformation -- through dance. The women were paired with professional choreographers to bring their stories to life in ballet.

The 5:8 in the ballet company’s name refers to Romans 5:8, which also is a nod to its faith-based mission. Miranda Rubio Opsal is the Ballet 5:8 School Principal and Artist in the company. She said that Ballet 5:8 really stands on its own as being a classically focused ballet school and company. It enables the students who take the classes there to broaden their horizons on how to do pointe work well, perform and execute classical roles with precision, as well as have opportunities to perform throughout the summer. At the beginning of the summer, Ballet 5:8 collaborated with the Frankfort Public Library for a lawn event, where dancers from the highest level performed. Rubio Opsal said there are also other opportunities throughout the summer for the community, families and friends to attend showcases to see what the students have been working on.

The Ballet 5:8’s summer programs range in age from 12 years old to 22 years old. Students can take classes for up to six weeks during the summer. There is also a summer program that takes place at the end of the summer that is for students ages 8 years old to 12 years old. The programs are for dancers who are interested in taking their ballet training to the next level. Ballet 5:8 also engages the community through the summer intensive program, including the fast track program, which lets dancers from any discipline of dance learn more about the world of classical ballet.

On July 25th, Ballet 5:8 premiered The Future is Now, with students from the summer intensive and the professional company performing Julianna Rubio Slager’s repertoire and repertoire that was created by students during Ballet 5:8’s choreography intensive. Rubio Opsal said that the event was an opportunity to show the community what the young people in the program are capable of doing and producing during five weeks in the summer.

“That’s something I love about ballet, it believes so much in young people, that they can really take on a huge challenge and be really victorious in it,” Rubio Opsal said.

Rubio Opsal said that Co-Founder and Resident Choreographer Rubio Slager pulls inspiration from different places including literature, authors, her own life and background and faith base, as well as from the beauty from the world around her. One example is a piece from The Future Is Now called The Sea is Flat, which Rubio Opsal said really embodies the majesty of the ocean and the waters around us, while also acknowledging the beauty of the stillness of the flat sea.

One highlight of the intensive has been a visit from an African Dance teacher who taught the students different forms of West African dance. Rubio Opsal said it was great seeing the students try a new dance form that was a beautiful way of moving and storytelling.

“It really broadens the student’s horizons to what dance is, it isn’t just one form or another, and there’s just a beauty and an excellence in all of it,” she said.

The BIOS Project will be performed at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, located at 1016 N. Dearborn, on Friday, Aug. 23rd, and on Saturday, Aug. 31st, at the Ballet 5:8 Studios, located at 11545 183rd Place, in Orland Park. Fall programming begins Aug. 25th. Classes take place Monday through Saturday in Orland Park, as well as classes on Thursdays in Beverly. For more information about Ballet 5:8, visit www.ballet58.org.

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