Mission & Vision
Ballet 5:8 sparks discusson on life, faith, and human dignity through powerful storytelling and breathtaking dance. Our work challenges assumptions—about who ballet is for, where it belongs, and what it can say.
About Ballet 5:8
Founded in 2012 by Julianna Rubio Slager and Amy Kozol, Ballet 5:8 was created to meet a need: a need for a professional ballet company that reflects the richness of its city, speaks to the soul, and nurtures both excellence and equity.
We are a women-led, Latino- and ALAANA-led company based in Chicago’s South Suburbs. Our artists come from across the United States and now live in neighborhoods throughout the city and surrounding region. We don’t draw lines between sacred and secular, suburban and urban, classical and contemporary—we embrace the fullness of our artists as people and storytellers.
”Like the life cycle of the butterfly, Rubio Slager and her long-standing women-led team are aligned and committed to actualizing change in their labors of love and in society.”
-D’onminique Boyd-Riley, See Chicago Dance,
Ballet 5:8 is more than a company—it’s a community of artists, students, audiences, and supporters who believe in the power of beauty, story, and shared experience. Whether you’re attending a performance, enrolling your child, partnering through outreach, or giving to the mission, there’s a place for you here.
Performance | Repertoire | School | Community Engagement | Press | Values | Studios |Support
Performance & Touring
Ballet 5:8 is proud to perform in theaters, schools, and community venues across the region and on tour.
We are the Resident Company at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and regularly partner with institutions throughout Chicago.
Key partners include:
Logan Center for the Arts (University of Chicago)
Kehrein Center for the Arts (Austin neighborhood)
Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Public Libraries
Faith-based venues, community centers, and senior living communities
Each season, we perform for over 10,000 audience members locally and on tour.
“Often, when an artistic entity is in service of an ideology, the art suffers. With Ballet 5:8, both seem to nourish and enhance each other. The dancing was polished and delightful, and came across as a breath of fresh air.”
-Lynn Colburn Shapiro, See Chicago Dance
Repertoire
Ballet 5:8 is known for creating original, story-driven ballets that explore the complexities of life, culture, and faith. Our work draws from literature, history, lived experience, and spiritual themes—inviting audiences to see ballet as a medium for conversation, not just spectacle.
In just 14 years, we’ve commissioned and premiered over 50 ballets, ranging from full-length narrative works to intimate repertory programs. Central to this repertoire is our commitment to engaging a broad range of choreographic voices—particularly ALAANA artists whose perspectives and experiences are historically underrepresented in ballet.
Resident Choreographer
Julianna Rubio Slager is Ballet 5:8’s Co-Founder and Resident Choreographer. A Chicana artist, Rubio Slager has shaped the company’s artistic identity since its founding through faith-driven, literary, and culturally grounded works that explore moral tension, resilience, and the human condition. She has created 60 ballets during her career and is set to create three more in the 2025/26 Season.
In-House Choreographers
Ballet 5:8 also cultivates new choreographic voices from within our own company:
Libby Dennen – Known for detailed, emotionally rich ensemble work that blends classical precision with contemporary insight.
Katrina Clarke – Creates work for the Second Company that reflects both technical sophistication and expressive intent.
Guest Choreographers
Tobin James – Former Martha Graham 2 dancer, and choreographer known for musicality and emotional clarity in movement.
Matthew Rushing – A leader at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, whose choreography blends spiritual depth and cultural heritage.
Preston Miller – A sought after coach and artist whose high-energy work bridges commercial and concert dance.
Caleb Mitchell – An American choreographer whose ballets blend classical structure and narrative invention.
Seyong Kim – A Korean-born choreographer and former dancer with Richmond and Milwaukee Ballet, known for lyrical, architecturally driven work.
Stephanie Martinez – A nationally acclaimed Latina choreographer and founder of Para.Mar, recognized for bold, emotionally textured narratives.
Silvita Díaz Brown – A Mexican-born, Chicago-based choreographer whose surrealist storytelling blends contemporary ballet with physical theatre.
Rachel Hutsell – A former dancer with New York City Ballet whose choreography examines joy and legacy in neoclassical form.
Jasmine Getz – Dayton Ballet artist and emerging choreographer whose athletic, contemporary style reflects her performance background.
Kevin Jenkins – A nationally recognized choreographer whose work is rooted in lyrical, musical storytelling with wide audience appeal.
““In a city whose major ballet institutions have historically been dominated by white men, ‘Struggle and Resilience’ dares to challenge the status quo. Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager emphasizes the importance of elevating the voices of Black and Latina women within the arts, stating, ‘We are not here to be displayed once a year in a program. We’re a vital part of this city’s artistic ecosystem, and we’re here to stay.’””
The School of Ballet 5:8 serves over 400 students annually across three campuses in Orland Park, Beverly, and Lakeview—drawing families from more than 35 neighborhoods throughout the Chicago region and advanced students audition from across the U.S.
Our programs span early childhood through pre-professional training, all rooted in Ballet 5:8’s core values: technical excellence, holistic development, and the belief that artistry and character go hand in hand. Instruction is led by a nationally credentialed faculty, many of whom are current or former Ballet 5:8 company artists.
Students benefit from performance opportunities alongside the professional company and have gone on to train with top schools and conservatories across the country. Dancers routinely graduate and go onto either a BFA or Trainee and apprentice level contracts at Ballet 5:8 and in companies across the country.
The school was founded in 2012 by Julianna Rubio Slager and Amy Sanderson. 80 of Julianna’s students from a local dance studio joined that first year, after the local school she had been teaching at had to close it’s doors. The school has since grown in size and scope, now occupying a 12,000 square foot building in Orland Park, IL and a satelite campus in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago.
Whether preparing for a career in dance or simply growing through movement, students at Ballet 5:8 are challenged and nurtured in equal measure.
Support the Mission
Your support makes Ballet 5:8 possible. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on donors who believe in the power of story, community, and artistic excellence to bring ballet to new stages and new audiences.
Your gift helps us:
Commission new works by underrepresented choreographers
Expand access to dance education across the South Suburbs and Chicago
Offer free and low-cost performances for students and families
Sustain full-time employment for professional artists
Tour works that spark conversation on culture, identity, and faith
Whether you give monthly, annually, or through a corporate partnership, every gift brings us closer to a future where ballet is a more inclusive, vibrant, and human art form.
Ways to Give:
Make a one-time or recurring donation
Sponsor a performance, dancer, or educational program
Partner with us as a business or foundation
Leave a legacy through planned giving
Join us in shaping the future of ballet—one story at a time.
Community Engagement
Ballet 5:8 brings dance beyond the stage and into everyday spaces—schools, libraries, churches, senior centers, and community theaters—across Chicago and beyond. Our community programs are designed to meet people where they are, making ballet accessible, meaningful, and rooted in relationship.
Programs include:
Free and low-cost student matinees
In-school performances and artist residencies
Ballet-based movement classes for older adults
Post-show discussions, talkbacks, and artist Q&As
Curriculum-connected programming for educators and classrooms
Supported by the Illinois Arts Council, DCASE, and hundreds of individual donors, this engagement work is not an add-on—it’s central to our mission.
What Guides Us
Artistic excellence grounded in honesty, craft, and story
Professional standards shaped by faith, compassion, and accountability
Women-led leadership (80%) and ALAANA representation (40%)
Programs serving communities across Chicago’s Suburbs, as well as the city’s South, West, and North Sides
A deep commitment to mentorship, access, and equity in the dance field
A belief that ballet is for every body—and every community
These values shape not just what we perform, but how we train, engage, and collaborate.
Recognition & Press
Ballet 5:8’s work has been recognized for its bold storytelling, diverse leadership, and impact in both professional and community spaces. Our performances and programs have been featured by national and regional media, arts publications, and civic partners. Here are some of the press features from past seasons.
Featured in:
NPR, PBS, FOX, WGN, NBC, ABC
Our growing presence in Chicago’s arts ecosystem reflects our vision: ballet that is excellent, accessible, and rooted in real life.
Our Home
Ballet 5:8's studio and rehearsal space is located in Orland Park, Illinois, just outside of Chicago - the third largest city in the United States. Each season, Ballet 5:8 performs not just in downtown Chicago, but all over the city, in surrounding suburbs, and across the U.S.
The goal? To share conversation and breathtaking dance with all kinds of people in all kinds of neighborhoods and communities, spanning social, economic, cultural and other divides. With each new year, Ballet 5:8 expands the reach of its mission to new communities, new cities, new states - even new countries - and wherever there are opportunities to go.