Ballet Ireland

Ballet Ireland is an Irish ballet company, established in 1998 by Günther Falusy and Anne Maher. Presenting a broad repertoire, it has been funded by the Arts Council of Ireland since 1999 and is under the sole patronage of Irish President Michael D. Higgins since 2013.

Ballet Ireland
General information
NameBallet Ireland
Year founded1998
FoundersAnne Maher, Gunther Falusy
Websiteballetireland.ie
Senior staff
DirectorAnne Maher
Company managerMartin Lindinger

History

Following various previous ventures, ballet in Ireland had a "home" in the Irish National Ballet, founded in 1973 and overseen by Joan Denise Moriarty.[1] However, following a series of funding cuts, the company was disbanded in 1989 and doubt was expressed whether classical ballet could survive in Ireland.[2] In 1998, Ballet Ireland was founded in Dublin by choreographer and dancer Günther Falusy (1946–2017), and the professional ballet dancer Anne Maher, to re-establish classical ballet in the capital.[3] The opening production was at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.[4] The Arts Council of Ireland provided substantial grants from 1999 to 2003, allowing the new company to become established.[5] This funding has continued, allowing annual performances and tours throughout Ireland and to a lesser extent in the UK.[6] Since then, the company has presented over 30 seasons of work and is also involved in educational programmes such as professional workshops and summer schools.[7][8][9] In 2013, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, a former Arts Minister, became the patron of the company.[10]

Performances

Ballet Ireland began with a conventional repertoire of well-known ballets such as The Nutcracker,[11][12] Swan Lake[13] and The Sleeping Beauty.[5] Once fully established, it started to take works on tour, for example, a production of Giselle from 2017,[14] performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018 which The Guardian called "part modern murder mystery, part romantic ballet classic"[15] and Anna Winter in The Stage described as a "full-blooded re-imagining staged with zeal".[16] The company has also extended its range of works to include contemporary dance and reinterpretations of classic ballets.[17][18] The company collaborated with the Irish Chamber Orchestra on a 2014 production of Rodion Shchedrin's Carmen Suite (ballet)[19] and with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on a number of productions.[20]

References
  1. Wallace, David (2012). "The Arts Council and Irish National Ballet 1985–89". In Fleischmann, Ruth (ed.). Joan Denise Moriarty: Ireland's First Lady of Dance. pp. 34–56.
  2. "Leap into the unknown". The Irish Times. Dublin. 28 September 1999. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  3. Craine, Debra. (2010). The Oxford dictionary of dance. Mackrell, Judith. (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-19-956344-9. OCLC 620092525.
  4. "Austrian dancer and choreographer co-founded Ballet Ireland". The Irish Times. Dublin. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  5. Seaver, Michael (16 April 2002). "Do we need Ballet Ireland?". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  6. Wulff, Helena. (2009). Dancing at the crossroads : memory and mobility in Ireland (1st pbk. ed.). New York: Berghahn Books. pp. 78–80. ISBN 978-1-84545-590-3. OCLC 437030529.
  7. "Ballet Ireland presents Bold Moves". Nationaloperahouse.ie. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  8. Thompson, Sylvia (10 August 2010). "Strictly ballet". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  9. "Ballet Ireland do summer workshops". RTE. 23 June 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  10. "Patron". BalletIreland. 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  11. Battersby, Eileen (11 November 2004). "Behind the scenes at the ballet". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  12. Seaver, Christie (21 November 2013). "A tough nut to crack". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  13. Seaver, Christie (21 November 2014). "Review: Swan Lake". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  14. Seaver, Christie (24 April 2017). "Giselle review: streets fights and cryptic connections in a frantic production". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  15. Bain, Alice (6 August 2018). "Giselle review – Ballet Ireland bring out the Hammer horror in a romantic classic". The Guardian. UK.
  16. Winter, Anna (7 August 2018). "Giselle". The Stage. London. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  17. Seaver, Christie (18 April 2017). "'We cannot have an endless diet of Swan Lakes'". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  18. Seaver, Christie (26 March 2019). "Bold Moves: Ballet Ireland scores a coup with heart-pounding performance of Minus 16". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  19. Rushe, Rose (25 April 2014). "The Big Top to host Carmen ballet". Limerick Post Newspaper. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  20. "Ballet Ireland's Carmen goes on tour". RTE. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
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