Ballet 5:8’s Beyond the Nutcracker returns to the stage this December and it brings with it the homecoming of a dancer who helped shape the production from its earliest years.
Libby Dennen, now a Solo Artist with Ballet 5:8 and the company’s Second Company Director and Répétiteur, will reprise the role of Anastasis. The role was created on her in 2015 when she first performed it as a teenage student. Dennen, who grew up in New Lenox and now lives in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, said the return feels deeply personal.
“The role of Anastasis holds a very special place in my heart,” Dennen said. “I was the first dancer to ever perform this role, and it was the first time a lead role had been choreographed on me. It felt truly my own from the beginning. Returning to it years later is a gift. I get to revisit the joy and excitement of that first experience, but now with greater maturity and depth. Stepping into Anastasis again feels like coming home.”
Dennen began dancing at age 3 and received formal training starting at 8. Her professional path has remained rooted in Ballet 5:8. She joined the organization as a student during its founding season in 2012 and was offered an apprenticeship immediately after high school. Her education unfolded in the studio where she performed, taught and learned directly from Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager.
“My entire professional career has developed at Ballet 5:8,” Dennen said. “Learning directly from Julianna and immersing myself in her choreographic language has been the foundation of my artistic development.”
She has now danced professionally for nine years and has performed numerous featured and principal roles in Slager’s repertoire including Reckless, The Lost Women of Juarez, The Mother, Butterfly, Interplay and Día de los Vivos. Her choreographic voice has developed through Ballet 5:8’s Making Space initiative and through creating new works for the Second Company and school.
Slager said Dennen’s journey reflects the heart of the company’s mission to show that professional dancers can build their careers in the Southland.
“Libby’s story is proof that artists don’t have to leave the South Suburbs to find opportunity,” Slager said. “There can be a thriving artist community right here. The Southland does not have to remain an arts desert.”
Beyond the Nutcracker sets Tchaikovsky’s classic in 1940s England through the eyes of Emma, a young girl seeking hope and peace during a time of upheaval. The production blends elaborate choreography, period costumes and a sweeping narrative that highlights themes of goodwill and redemption. More than 300 students will share the stage with Ballet 5:8’s 16 professional artists. The result has become one of the Southland’s most anticipated holiday traditions.
Dennen said she remains inspired by the power of dance to communicate without words.
“I have always loved the way dance could communicate such complex emotions without saying a single word,” she said. “At Ballet 5:8, that is the whole mission. We tell stories that hold power, truth and grace. Stories that make people feel seen. Ballet is beautiful, but it is so much more than that.”
She also carries a message for the young dancers now following in her footsteps.
“There is no one else out there who can be you,” Dennen said. “It is easy to compare your weaknesses to someone else’s strengths, but you have something completely unique to offer. Lean into that. Work hard, stay curious, listen well, and remember that joy, humility and gratitude carry you farther than perfection ever will.”