MM_120717

mokenamessenger.com life & arts
the Mokena Messenger | December 7, 2017 | 23
‘Beyond the Nutcracker’ re-imagines show
Ballet 5:8 to perform
original take on
classic show
Amanda Stoll, Assistant Editor
It’s the time of year when
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s
timeless music will set the
stage for “The Nutcracker”
ballet across the country, including
one stage very close
to home, but it will not be
the same story and characters
most people are familiar
with.
For the third year, Ballet
5:8, a Frankfort-based professional
ballet company and
school of the arts, will put on
their production of “Beyond
the Nutcracker,” a story of
young Emma’s Christmas
vision where she will meet
the characters from the very
first Christmas.
“This show just gives a
really good, positive message
about the real story
of Christmas,” said Catherine
Lobash, a conservatory
dancer from Mokena who
has been studying dance for
eight years.
Her roles in “Beyond the
Nutcracker” are as members
of both the snow angel corps
and the Spanish corps, with
both dancing in large, group
numbers on stage.
In addition to stamina,
Ensemble Director Laura
Schlatter said “corps dancing
includes a lot of precision
and staying together.
It’s a large group of girls
that have to stay precisely on
the same counts... to really
showcase the music well.”
Instead of the traditional
Victorian-era setting, “Beyond
the Nutcracker” is set
during World War II, and
revolves around the Cooper
family and their daughter
Emma.
“I just love [Slager’s] approach
to this production
with it being set during
Mokena resident Catherine Lobash (second from right) performs with other members of Ballet 5:8. The group is scheduled
to perform “Beyond the Nutcracker” Dec. 16-17 at Lincoln-Way West High School. Lana Kozol/Ballet 5:8
World War II,” Schlatter
said. “I think it adds an extra
depth to the performance
and helps it to stand out from
other ‘Nutcrackers’ that you
might be able to see in the
Chicago area.”
Beside the setting and storyline,
the main character’s
overall experience through
the show takes a turn in “Beyond
the Nutcracker.”
“She goes on this really
life-changing journey
throughout the show,” Artistic
Director Julianna Slager
said, “and in your traditional
Nutcracker, Clara has a
dream and she has this beautiful
Christmas vision, but at
the end of the day she kind
of is essentially very similar
to who she was the day
before when she wakes up
from it.”
“...Whereas, in ours,
Emma goes on a dream
where she changes dramatically,
and she comes to learn
what the true meaning of
Christmas is.”
Ballet 5:8 was founded
in 2012 by Slager and Amy
Sanderson as a professional
ballet touring company,
which has expanded and
many of the professional
dancers teach students in
5:8’s school of the arts.
The “5:8” part of the
nonprofit company’s name
comes from Romans 5:8,
which reads “But God demonstrates
his own love for us
in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.”
“And that verse is really
the starting point for all the
work that we do,” Slager
said. “Our mission is to
spark discussions of life and
faith and so our goal is to
kind of bring discussion to
the table and camaraderie
and compassion between
people of different thoughts
and different walks of life.”
Slager, who has been
studying ballet since the age
of five, said “The Nutcracker”
was one of her favorite
ballets to perform in as a
child, and it inspired her to
experiment with the show
and the story to give it new
meaning.
After writing the story
herself and through collaboration
with other staff members
on costumes, choreography
and set design, the
production of “Beyond the
Nutcracker” came to life on
stage in 2015.
“It has been really neat to
see how the production has
grown both in production
value and also in the maturity
and the ability of or student
body,” Slager said. “...That’s
something I love about the art
form is that you can constantly
be rechanging and remaking
and tweaking the ballets
so every year they get a little
bigger, a little better [and]
a little more exciting even
though the heart of the message
is the same each year.”
Students as young as 2
years old train at the school;
however, it will be those
between 5 years old and
college-age students performing
on stage this season.
There will also be community
cast members including
parents and local community-theater
actors joining
the dancers on stage for the
party scene.
Several of the students on
stage will have performed
in the last two productions
of the show, some of whom
have been with Ballet 5:8
since its inception.
“There’s quite a few of the
kids that have grown up in
the school that have been in
the ballet each year and have
the joy of kind of getting
new roles every year,”Slager
said, “and they get really
excited about seeing that
growth as they mature from
level to level.”
Students from Mokena
include, Studio Company
Member Catherine Lobash
and children’s case members
Cosabella Chikerotis,
Gianna Chikerotis, Julia Mc-
Carty, Genevieve McCarty,
Layla Jacobs, Veda Simmons
and Elle Taylor.
“I really enjoy just the
teamwork everybody shows
around. It’s really inspiring
dance in a place like this,”
said Lobash, who said she
practices 20 or more hours a
week in addition to her tenth
grade school work.
Slager, who danced professionally
and has done extensive
work on her own in
choreography and directing
before cofounding Ballet 5:8,
said the show provides students
with an opportunity to
learn and perform on stage in
a challenging and professional
environment, complete
with professional choreography
and costumes, as well
as other aspects she said they
enjoy — like the music itself.
“The Tchaikovsky score is
so beautiful to dance to,” she
said. “It makes you feel very
connected with hundreds of
years of dance and so many
people that have danced to
the music.
“... We have just beautiful
choreography that’s very
musical and challenging
for them, but at the same
time very rewarding. When
you’re dancing on stage with
a group doing a challenging
piece and you hit it it’s just
very exhilarating.”
“Beyond the Nutcracker”
will be performed the weekend
of Dec. 16-17 at Lincoln-Way
West High School
in New Lenox. There will be
performances at 2 p.m. and 7
p.m. Dec. 16 and a matinee
performance at 3 p.m. Dec.
17.
Tickets are $18 for adults
and $10 for children 12 years
and younger. To purchase
tickets, visit www.ballet58.
org/performance-calendar.
“I hope [the audience] will
really enjoy just the message
we’re giving them and, of
course, our dancing. I hope
they enjoy that, too,” Lobash
said.