When the Christian-based Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts stages “Beyond the Nutcracker” Dec. 16 and 17 in Frankfort, toy soldiers and mice will be replaced by Nazis and Allies in the battle scene and the main character Emma, not Clara, will travel back in time to meet Mary and Joseph.
“You get all of the fun of ‘The Nutcracker,’ but a bit of a twist, a fresh take that is revived and renewed,” said Ballet 5:8 artistic director and choreographer Julianna Slager. “You’ll see not just the Nutcracker Suite, but also a World War II battle and Emma going back to the first Christmas, the basis of the holiday.”
Now in its third year, “Beyond the Nutcracker” features students from Ballet 5:8’s classical ballet training programs and guest artists from its 12-member professional company that has toured nationally since 2014.
Based in Frankfort with studios also in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood and Valparaiso, Ind., Ballet 5:8 draws some 250 students from “literally the entire south suburban community, 27 townships, from south of Joliet to Indiana,” said Slager, a Tinley Park resident who founded the nonprofit professional ballet company in 2012 in Frankfort with Amy Sanderson, a Matteson resident who serves as executive director.
The role of lead character Emma is played by Country Club Hills resident Grace Henderson, a Ballet 5:8 Conservatory student making her soloist debut. Her father Lamont, a member of the adult community cast, stars as a party guest.
Playing Emma’s Uncle Abrahms who leads her to the first Christmas is Stephen Everson, a transplant from Ohio.
“He’s one of the many dancers who have moved here from across the United States to train in one of our programs,” said Slager, whose husband Jeremy helps build sets for the productions.
All costumes for the cast of 100 dancers are handmade as well.
Lincoln-Way West student James Wainwright plays the General in the new battle scene and in the Spanish pas de deux (partnered dance), which also was revamped by Slager, whose choreography has been staged at Midwest: Dance Chicago, Project Dance, Chicago International Arts Festival and Detroit City Dance Festival.
Slager, a Michigan native who previously taught at the former Turning Point School of Dance in Frankfort, has performed with Greater Lansing Ballet and Ballet Magnificat and in 2015 won the Individual Artist Program Grant from the City of Chicago.
With Ballet 5:8, her students have progressed into training programs with the Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Houston Ballet and Washington Ballet.
This holiday season, a scaled-down version of “Beyond the Nutcracker” will be staged at area nursing homes as another way to engage the community through dance and their Christian faith, she said.
Ballet 5:8 takes its name from a Romans biblical passage and its productions purposefully have themes of faith, compassion, diversity and redemption.
Slager’s past productions have included “All God’s Children” based on a poem by Sojourner Truth, “The Mother” based on a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Compass: Navigating Cultural Tension with Compassion.”
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Come February 2018, excerpts from “Compass” will be performed in the collaborative piece “Caring for Words, Caring for Worlds” with Trinity Christian College Theatre and Gospel Choir at the Palos Heights campus.
Also in February and March, Ballet 5:8’s “Scarlet” will be staged in Glen Ellyn and Peoria and in Indiana, Texas and New Mexico.
“Ballet is ballet, but the stories you tell through ballet can vary wildly,” Slager said. “Our stories always showcase the beauty of redemption. Both Amy and I are Christian so compassion, kindness and the joy of Christ are important to use in the classroom.”
Vickie Snow Jurkowski is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
“Beyond the Nutcracker” by Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts
When: 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 16 and 3 p.m. Dec. 17
Where: Lincoln-Way West High School, 21701 Gougar Road in New Lenox
Tickets: $18 for adults, $10 for children 12 and under
Information: 708-329-8773 or www.ballet58.org
Etc.: Discussions led by the artistic director will immediately follow each performance