
Saturday, October 7, 7 p.m.
Scottish Rite Cathedral, 1800 Seventh Avenue, Moline IL
Returning to the Quad Cities for the third time since her company's founding in 2012, Eldridge native and Executive Director Amy Kozol Sanderson's Ballet 5:8 delivers a quartet of one-act ballets inspired by the challenges of present-day cultural tensions.
Kozol Sanderson received her initial classical-ballet training at Rock Island's Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance, went on to perform with Ballet Magnificat in Jackson, Mississippi, and eventually moved to Chicago, where she worked in the administrative offices at the esteemed Joffrey Academy of Dance. A subsequent co-founder of Ballet 5:8, Kozol Sanderson's mission for her nonprofit arts organization is to engage communities across the nation in conversations about life and faith through innovative storytelling and dance techniques, and the company's dancers perform more than 40 times a year in settings ranging from school gymnasiums to professional theatres.
Based on the theme “navigating cultural tension with compassion,” the four original ballets in the Compass program include works inspired by the writings of African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Chicago native Gwendolyn Brooks. After the performance, patrons are invited to stay for a panel discussion, in which Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director Julianna Slager and members of the company will talk about the works performed and address audience questions and comments.
Tickets to Ballet 5:8's Compass are $15-25, and more information and reservations are available by calling (312)725-4752 or visiting Ballet58.org.