When Ballet 5:8 launched the BIOS Project, they didn’t start with music. Or costumes. Or a theme. They started with a question: What happens when we actually listen?
Not just politely. Not in passing. But fully. With time. With no plan to fix, redirect, or explain away what we hear.
The invited four women choreographers to partner with four women from across Chicago—Lisa, Maritza, Christine, and Charity. These weren’t dancers. They were mothers, immigrants, trauma survivors, and first-generation daughters. They spoke honestly about addiction, identity, silence, sacrifice, and faith. Nothing was rehearsed. Nothing was polished.
And then the choreographers made ballets.
That’s BIOS. Not a metaphor. Not a concept. Just one woman saying, “Here’s what happened,” and another woman saying, “I believe you. Let’s make something out of that.”
The Stories Behind BIOS
Rachel Hutsell—who danced with New York City Ballet for seven years—created a ballet based on Christine’s story. Christine survived violence, addiction, and loss, and is now raising her child with a fierce kind of love. Rachel didn’t clean it up. She leaned in. Her piece begins in shadow. Dancers drift. And then they change—step by step—into light.
Jasmine Getz worked with Lisa, who came to the U.S. from Hong Kong when she was nine. Lisa learned English fast. Let go of her accent. Tried to blend in. She speaks now about the cost of disappearing to survive. Jasmine’s ballet carries that quiet grief, but also the strength of a woman who raises her children differently—out loud, with love.
Maritza, a Cuban and Afro-Caribbean woman, worked with choreographer Silvita Diaz Brown. Her story pulses with rhythm, memory, and faith. “I’m not half anything,” she says. “I’m the whole pot.” That line made it into the studio and eventually, the stage.
Charity partnered with Jenni Richards. Her story is hard. There’s no way around that. She grew up in a house full of abuse. She stood on the witness stand while the court system looked the other way. Now she runs a nonprofit. She tells the truth because silence almost killed her. Jenni didn’t choreograph a victim story—she choreographed a fighter.
These women didn’t just share content. They shared weight. And that’s what BIOS holds: the weight of real lives translated into movement.
The full BIOS collection premieres in August 2025 at the Logan Center and the Ruth Page Center in Chicago. An excerpt will also be programmed in Beauty Will Save the World on October 11 at the Harris Theater.
But BIOS isn’t just about what happens onstage. It’s about what happens in the room. When someone sits across from you, says, “Here’s what happened,” and you don’t look away.
That’s what Ballet 5:8 is building. Not spectacle. Not abstraction. Just connections.
How to Help
Ballet 5:8 is a non-profit ballet school and professional dance company. Donations help support Ballet 5:8’s mission to create redemptive art through dance by funding live music, commissioned ballets, community engagement projects, and scholarships for young dancers.
You can also support Ballet 5:8 by purchasing tickets to the BIOS Project and other shows throughout the year.
This post was submitted as part of our “You Said It” program.” Your voice, ideas, and engagement are important to help us accomplish our mission. We encourage you to share your ideas and efforts to make the world a better place by submitting a “You Said It.”
