What Does It Mean to Be a Ballet Company Rooted in Faith?

Ballet is a discipline of discipline—of repetition, refinement, and reaching for something just beyond yourself. At Ballet 5:8, that pursuit is shaped not only by our artistic goals, but by a deeper foundation: our belief that dance can reflect the good, the true, and the beautiful.

We don’t call ourselves a "Christian ballet company," not because faith isn’t essential, but because labels often fall short. Instead, we’re a professional ballet company shaped by a worldview that sees art as both expression and invitation—a way to wrestle with meaning, humanity, and hope.

Art with Intention At our core is the conviction that great art should move us. Our choreographers explore universal themes: injustice, forgiveness, grief, wonder, courage. These themes flow naturally from our values, but they don’t require shared belief to resonate. We want our audiences to feel something honest—to reflect, to question, to engage.

Faith shapes our process more than it defines our product. In the studio, that means creating with purpose and integrity. In our rehearsal rooms, prayer and spiritual reflection are welcomed, but never performative. We care for our dancers as whole people—mind, body, and spirit—and that care is evident on stage.

Welcoming and Excellent We hold ourselves to a high standard of technical and artistic excellence because we believe beauty matters. But we also believe access matters. Our School welcomes students from all backgrounds, and our performances reach audiences in theaters, churches, schools, and underserved communities.

Our dancers, collaborators, and students come from a range of perspectives. What brings us together is a shared belief that dance can say something deeper—and that art made with intention invites connection.

Why It Matters In a field often driven by trends or aesthetics alone, we want to offer something more: not preachiness, but perspective; not separation, but sincerity. We believe that when ballet is grounded in timeless values, it can become a space of restoration and revelation.

Ballet 5:8 exists to create work that is not only technically brilliant, but deeply human. We hope you’ll find in our performances a sense of purpose, vulnerability, and grace—because those are the things that move us to dance.