January 19th marks the 217th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, and on April 18 at 7:30pm, Ballet 5:8 will honor his legacy with the world premiere of The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of America 250, the production offers a bold new interpretation of one of America’s most enduring literary figures—reframing Poe not as a caricature of gothic horror, but as a complex artist shaped by love, loss, faith, and the unresolved moral inheritance of pre–Civil War America.
Choreographed by Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager, with co-choreography by Glorielle Niedfeldt, an expert in African Diaspora dance forms, the ballet places embodied history at the center of Poe’s story—examining how his life and work were made possible by enslaved labor, and how he wavered between benefiting from that system and grappling with its injustice.
Developed in close partnership with Harry Lee Poe and Chris Semtner, Director of the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, the ballet draws directly from Poe’s biography and writings, The Raven, Annabel Lee, The Tell-Tale Heart, Ligeia, Shadow (a Parable), and The
Masque of the Red Death. An original score featuring 19th-century American composers underscores the work’s historical grounding.
"For nearly two centuries, Poe's works have inspired countless creatives to produce everything from visual art and films to music and board games. Now Ballet 5:8 is reimagining Poe's words through dance. I think Poe, who was quite a graceful dancer himself, would appreciate what they are doing." –Chris Semtner
The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe unfolds in twelve cinematic scenes, tracing Poe’s journey from early loss to artistic obsession, moral awakening, and spiritual reckoning. Niedfeldt’s choreography draws from African diasporic movement traditions, giving physical voice to
histories long rendered invisible, while Slager’s choreography anchors the work in narrative clarity and emotional restraint.
The project also marks Ballet 5:8’s first NEH-supported production and extends beyond the stage. In collaboration with Dr. Poe and Semtner, the company is developing a nationally distributed educational curriculum aimed at high school honors and college students, designed to revitalize Poe’s biography and connect his life directly to the works he created. The first episode of an accompanying educational series will be released March 1st.
In addition to its Chicago premiere, The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe is scheduled to tour to Baltimore, where it will be presented during the International Poe Festival at the Hippodrome in October 2026, as well as Albuquerque, signaling the work’s growing national reach.
Actor and Poe interpreter Alex Zavistovich, known for his readings of The Masque of the Red Death and Shadow (a Parable) with Poe Theatre on the Air, will perform select readings in conjunction with the ballet.
“It’s completely fitting and very exciting to know about a balletic approach to Poe. Poe’s writing is full of references to dance – from The Masque of the Red Death to Fall of the House of Usher to Dream within a Dream and many more, Poe used the notion of movement to convey atmosphere in his writing. I’m eager to see the Chicago premiere ahead of the ballet’s arrival at the International Poe Festival. It’s a bold and innovative way to keep his name alive.
Ballet 5:8 will host a press preview masquerade on January 24th at its studios. Tickets for the April 18 premiere at Harris Theater range from $23–$77 and are available at: 👉 https://my.harristheaterchicago.org/10910/10911