Ballet 5:8 National Tour
The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe
Before the raven became a symbol, before the grave became a shrine, there was a man haunted by memory and alive with imagination.
In The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe, the stories rise around him like ghosts. Love, loss, obsession, and madness take shape through dance as Poe moves through the inner world that made his writing unforgettable.
90 minutes
None
One sitting
Gothic story ballet
Watch the Trailer
Enter the world before the story begins.
The Ballet
A gothic portrait of the man behind the legend.
The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe reimagines Poe not as a distant literary icon, but as a deeply human soul shaped by loss, longing, beauty, and the cultural tensions of a nation moving toward Civil War.
Through neo-classical ballet, African Diaspora movement traditions, spoken word, sound design, and surreal imagery, Poe moves through an imagined psychological landscape where memory, desire, and dread collide. His famous tales emerge as reflections of his inner world: tenderness, terror, obsession, and the search for redemption.
Read the full synopsis
Created by Julianna Rubio Slager and Glorielle Niedfeldt, and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of America 250, this visually immersive ballet traces Poe's life through the lens of the short stories that made him immortal.
The production moves through obsession, grief, love, madness, and longing, not simply illustrating Poe's fiction, but revealing how those stories open a window into his inner world.
What begins as an atmospheric descent becomes a reckoning: will grief swallow him, or transform him?
Poe believed a story should be experienced in one sitting. To honor that idea, the ballet runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
Why See It
Not just a ballet about Poe. A live encounter with his imagination.
A story you can feel
Built for theater lovers, literature lovers, Poe fans, ballet audiences, students, and first-time dancegoers.
Poe beyond the icon
The ballet looks past the raven and the grave to reveal an artist wrestling with grief, beauty, and meaning.
A world made physical
Movement, text, sound, shadow, and surreal imagery create the feeling of stepping inside a dream.
An American lens
American composers and layered movement traditions frame Poe within a nation on the brink of rupture.
Praised by Poe Scholars
"A beautiful sort of sorrow with a tinge of mystery."
"The conception of the ballet was stunning. There aren't words to convey how it was able to capture the life of Poe and present it with dance. It was marvelous."
- Harry Lee Poe
"Brilliant performance. It captured the melancholy feeling of Poe. A beautiful sort of sorrow with a tinge of mystery."
- Chris Semtner, Curator of The Poe Museum
National Tour Dates
See Poe live on stage.
Hippodrome Theatre
Baltimore, Maryland
In collaboration with the International Poe Fest
Roy E. Disney Center for Performing Arts
Albuquerque, New Mexico
In collaboration with the National Hispanic Cultural Center
Morris Performing Arts Center
South Bend, Indiana
What to Expect
A concentrated theatrical experience.
Story-first ballet
Emotionally clear and atmospheric, with a narrative arc audiences can follow.
Spoken word
Text and sound support the storytelling and deepen the world of the work.
Movement fusion
Neo-classical ballet is woven with African Diaspora movement traditions.
Gothic atmosphere
Beauty, dread, shadow, and revelation unfold in one uninterrupted sitting.
Inside the Work
Hear from the artists and Poe scholars behind the production.
Go deeper into the movement, historical imagination, and literary world that shaped The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Glorielle Niedfeldt
On movement, collaboration, and entering Poe's world through African Diaspora movement traditions.
Harry Lee Poe
On Poe's life, imagination, grief, and the historical context behind the ballet.
Chris Semtner
On Poe's legacy, mystery, and why his stories continue to haunt and fascinate audiences.
Music & Composers
A score rooted in American voices.
The score draws from major American composers, supporting the production's historical and cultural lens.
Creative Team
Created by Julianna Rubio Slager and Glorielle Niedfeldt.
Julianna Rubio Slager
Julianna is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Ballet 5:8. A Mexican-American choreographer, she creates original ballets that explore faith, culture, and the human condition through classical ballet, rich narrative, and emotional depth.
Glorielle Niedfeldt
Glorielle is a Chicago-based choreographer, dancer, and educator whose movement roots draw from ballet, West African, and Afro-Caribbean traditions. As co-choreographer, she brings a layered, rhythmically complex voice to the work.
Inspiration Playlist
The sonic world behind the production.
This playlist informed the atmosphere, emotional palette, and pacing of the ballet.
Tickets go live August 1
Come for the mystery. Stay for the humanity behind it.
Find your city and experience a 90-minute theatrical descent into Poe's imagination.
