What Is La Llorona? The Legend Behind Ballet 5:8’s Haunting Ballet

What if there’s more to Maria’s story?

This fall, Ballet 5:8 brings La Llorona to the stage—not as a horror tale, but as a deeply human story about motherhood, mental health, and the silent battles women fight every day.

A Legend Reexamined

In the traditional Mexican legend, La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) is a mother who, in a fit of grief and rage, drowns her children and is cursed to roam the earth in search of them. Often used as a cautionary tale, her story has echoed across generations, cultures, and borders.

But in choreographer Julianna Rubio Slager’s hands, La Llorona becomes something more: a woman we recognize. A mother named María. A figure deserving not of fear, but of empathy.

A Mother’s Journey

In this reimagined ballet, we meet María not as a monster, but as a new mother unraveling under the weight of suspicion and emotional isolation. When she believes her husband has betrayed her, María’s world collapses. What follows isn’t a moral fable—it’s the very real descent into postpartum depression, a condition that affects 1 in 7 new mothers in the U.S., and often goes undiagnosed in communities of color.

Through layered choreography and hauntingly beautiful movement, María’s internal anguish unfolds before us: not with screams, but with silence; not with monsters, but with shadows of the mind.

“I wanted to give La Llorona a name. A face. A heart,” says Slager. “She isn’t just a ghost. She’s someone we all know—a sister, a mother, a friend. Maybe even ourselves.”

From Despair to Redemption

As the story progresses, María’s community awakens to her pain. Her husband, once confused and withdrawn, begins to see the signs. And slowly, a story once rooted in judgment becomes a testimony to what it means to truly see, support, and fight for the ones we love.

In the end, La Llorona is not a tale of damnation—it is a story of restoration. A plea for compassion. A call to break the silence around maternal mental health.

Why It Matters

According to the NIH, 6.5–20% of new mothers experience postpartum depression, but many suffer in silence—particularly women of color, who face higher rates of underdiagnosis and stigma.

Slager, a mother of three, weaves her own experience into the work. The result is a ballet that speaks not just to Latinx audiences, but to anyone who’s ever felt unseen in their pain.

Experience the Ballet That’s Starting Conversations

La Llorona is more than a performance—it’s a movement. A retelling that invites empathy. A work that merges Mexican folklore with modern understanding to shed light on a hidden crisis.

If you’ve ever felt the weight of expectation, the ache of isolation, or the courage it takes to ask for help—this ballet is for you.

Don’t miss Ballet 5:8’s most riveting ballet yet.

Buy your tickets now for La Llorona—three shows only!

Bloomington Performing Arts - James Lumber Center in Grayslake - Governor’s State University