Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Episode 7 - Joan Denise Moriarty, Ballet Dancer and Teacher

Early family life spent in Liverpool, excelling at Irish dancing and war pipes; studied classical ballet, later moving into teaching; family returned to Ireland in 1933, Joan Denise moving to Cork city in 1940; meeting with composer Aloys Fleischmann in 1945 lead to lifelong artistic collaboration between the two; 1947 founded Cork Ballet Company, first performance in Cork Opera House; 1959 founded Irish Theatre Ballet, the first Irish professional ballet company, with aim of bringing ballet to ordinary people around the country; 1978 staged Playboy of the Western World with music by The Chieftains to acclaim at Dublin Theatre Festival; 1983 founded Irish Ballet Company, later Irish National Ballet; 1981 oversaw purchase of historic Firkin Crane building in Cork city, and its restoration to become the home of the Irish National Ballet; credited with fusing Irish folk dance with classical ballet; throughout her life, she choreographed more than 100 original works; died 1992.

Reference: "Joan Denise Moriarty: Founder of Irish National Ballet", ed. Ruth Fleischmann, Mercier, 1998.

The plaque is located in Emmet Place.


Contributor: Sinead Murphy, Director of Cork School of Dance

A Place in Time - Episode 7: Joan Denise Moriarty, Ballet Dancer & Teacher by Conor O'Toole on Mixcloud

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