Sign up now and get inside access to Ballet Ireland’s latest news, performances, special promotions and ticket sales
Friends are valued members of the Ballet Ireland family and enjoy a range of rewarding experiences that bring them closer to the artistic process
Can you help us to put the perfect shoes on our dancers’ feet so we can create even more magical performances for you?
Karen is former Marketing Director at EY Ireland, one of the global Big Four professional services firms.
As a strategic leader within EY, Karen’s role focused on delivering a robust marketing strategy and plan to support the firm’s revenue targets and build its brand reputation. During her 14-year tenure with EY, Karen. She established a number of new initiatives, evolved the firm’s digital marketing strategy and led the brand refresh of Ernst & Young to EY in Ireland.
Earlier in her career, Karen worked at University College Dublin in marketing and research. In addition, she was a Business Partner with Jen Doherty Bridal Designer which resulted in winning the award for Irish Bridal Designer of the Year in 2006.
Recently, Karen has been a guest speaker on the Masters of Advertising course at TU Dublin. She was a former Committee member of the PM Forum Ireland. She is a graduate of University College Dublin and holds a Masters degree in Media Studies from University of Ulster.
(Appointed to the Board March 2022)
Christopher is a globally-engaged nonprofit leader serving iconic nonprofit institutions, and high-net-worth individuals, in pursuit of meaningful impact and lasting change.
Mr. Conway launched his career assisting Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter pursue an innovative global health agenda at The Carter Center of Emory University. Past President & Executive Director of The Joffrey Ballet, Mr. Conway also held key development positions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and forged an historic partnership between the Doheny Eye Institute and UCLA Stein Eye Institute.
A sought after speaker and consultant, Mr. Conway is well known for equal emphasis on outcomes, efficiency and style. He is oft-quoted on questions of tax and complex gifts, most recently featured on Bloomberg Television and in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, W Magazine, and Town & Country. Mr. Conway has a B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Mr. Conway was a Visiting Scholar in Gift & Estate Tax, Northwestern University. Mr. Conway obtained his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis.
(Appointed to the Board October 2021)
Auditions for the 2022 Spring Season have now closed. For future audition opportunities, please check back periodically.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, requests to join company class will be strictly limited. We thank you for your understanding.
Please email: [email protected] for more information.
Hailed by London’s The Daily Telegraph as “the Nureyev of contemporary ballet”, Christopher Bruce’s position as one of Britain’s leading choreographers, working with both classical and contemporary companies worldwide, was acknowledged in March 1993 when he received the International Theatre Institute Award for excellence in international dance. This followed a host of other awards throughout a rich career, including the first Evening Standard Award for Dance in 1974 due to his contribution to British dance, both as a performer and as a choreographer. In 1996, he received the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement in Ballet. In June 1998, he was named a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
Christopher was born in England in 1945 and started studying dance at 11 years old. After studying at the Rambert School, Christopher joined Ballet Rambert, where he quickly became the leading male dancer. In 1977, Christopher was was appointed the Associate Director and was Associate Choreographer from 1979 to 1987, where he created over twenty works for the company. Between 1986 and 1991 he acted as associate choreographer for London Festival Ballet (later English National Ballet), and in 1989, became resident choreographer for Houston Ballet. In 1994, he became the Artistic Director of Rambert Dance Company and led the company for 10 years.
As a choreographer, Christopher Bruce was undoubtedly stimulated by the variety and experimentation of Ballet Rambert in the 1960s, creating over twenty works for the company. During his career, he has choreographed for a wide range of productions including musicals, plays for the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, operas, television, and video.
Although his productions have been mounted throughout the world, Mr. Bruce has developed special relationships with a number of companies, including Houston Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Cullberg Ballet, English National Ballet, Gulbenkian Ballet, and Le Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneva. Among his best known works are Cruel Garden, Ghost Dances, Sergeant Early’s Dream, Intimate Pages, The Dream is Over, Swansong, and Rooster, all of which have been televised.
Email: [email protected]
Dublin-born Anne Maher is one of Ireland’s most respected voices in ballet and dance, with an international career spanning over thirty-five years. Trained initially by Myrtle Lambkin in Dublin, she has worked with the major figures of Ireland’s ballet world, including Irish Ballet Company founder, Joan Denise Moriarty and Dublin City Ballet’s Janet Lewis.
Anne was awarded a scholarship by the late Princess Grace of Monaco, to study at L’Acadamie de Danse Classique in Monte Carlo under Marika Besobrasova. Following her training in Monaco, Anne danced for the British Ballet Theatre in London and as Principal Ballerina touring all over Europe with Wiener Ballett Theater. Her roles include Odette/Odile (Swan Lake), Sugar Plum Fairy (Nutcracker), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Queen of the Willis (Giselle), and a range of various modern works.
Anne returned to Ireland in 1997 to found Ballet Ireland, which she continues to develop as a successful and vibrant national touring company. She also founded Irish Ballet Forum, a resource organisation that provides master classes, intensive courses and information for Ireland’s aspiring young dancers.
Anne continues to be one of this country’s biggest advocates for ballet and dance. She is former chairperson of Dance Ireland and a former board member of Theatre Forum Ireland.
Email: [email protected]
Having worked in the arts sector for the past 20 years in both in Canada and Ireland, Jeanette’s previous positions held in marketing and development include: Dance Ireland; arts consulting company Genovese Vanderhoof and Associates; Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art; Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Crawford Art Gallery; and The Abbey Theatre.
She has been a board director of Ballet Ireland and The College of Dance. She is currently a board member of Dublin Youth Dance Company.
As a former professional dancer, Jeanette has also produced work in Toronto and continues to teach ballet for CoisCeim Dance Theatre.
Simon has been Chief Financial Officer at Three Ireland since July 2012.
Previous to this appointment, he was Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Head of Planning, Evaluations and Commercial Finance and Head of Finance Supply Logistics at the company.
He also served as Head of Corporate Project Accounting at H3G and holds a BSc in Economics and Accountancy from Loughborough University.
(Appointed to the Board October 2021)
Deirdre graduated from the University of the West of England in 1998 with an Honours Degree in Physiotherapy. In 2002 Deirdre completed a Masters Degree in Sports Medicine from Dublin University, Trinity College. While in Trinity College, she undertook a body of research into Bone Mineral Density in female dancers in Ireland.
In 2004, Deirdre completed a Certificate in Orthopedic Manual Therapy at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. She completed her year in Australia by working in two private practices in Sydney. The first practice was dedicated to the treatment of dancers and their injuries, where she worked with Lisa Howell, amongst others. It also had a large fully equipped Pilates studio used in the rehabilitation of clients. It was here that Deirdre’s interest in Pilates for rehabilitation was born.
In 2006 she opened Brookwood Physiotherapy & Pilates Clinic. She trained as a STOTT PILATES instructor to advanced level in mat work in 2006 and has completed the Rehab Reformer instructor training with STOTT PILATES in 2010. In 2017, Deirdre completed her STOTT PILATES Intensive Reformer, Cadillac, Chair and Ladder Barrel training (www.merrithew.com). Deirdre currently teaches group matwork Pilates classes and equipment based workouts on a 1-2-1 basis.
In October 2011, Deirdre commenced working with Birmingham Royal Ballet as Company Physiotherapist, with whom she toured extensively both nationally in the UK and internationally. Her role with the company involved assessing, diagnosing and treating acute and chronic injuries for the 60 Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers, the ballet staff, the administrative staff and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
Since returning to Dublin in 2013, Deirdre has been working with Ballet Ireland, The National Ballet Company of Ireland on a sessional basis as Company Physiotherapist.
She is a member of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapy (www.iscp.ie), The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (www.iadms.org) and The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (www.csp.org.uk).
Una is a former General Manager and Director of Irish Times Training, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Irish Times. She was responsible for the delivery of over 55 open programmes and a range of in-company activities in both public and private sector organisations. Since 2008, she has had responsibility for Executive Education programmes with Ulster University and large scale Solas initiatives.
Una is a former General Manager of ireland.com and has held a number of senior management roles in Irish media companies. She is a graduate of DIT and the University of Leicester and is a regular visitor at Boston College USA.
(Appointed to the Board February 2016)
Last updated March 25, 2021
Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at The National Ballet of Ireland, doing business as Ballet Ireland (“Ballet Ireland“, “we“, “us“, “our“). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy notice, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at [email protected].
When you visit our website https://www.balletireland.ie (the “Website“), and more generally, use any of our services (the “Services“, which include the Website), we appreciate that you are trusting us with your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously. In this privacy notice, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Services immediately.
This privacy notice applies to all information collected through our Services (which, as described above, includes our Website), as well as, any related services, sales, marketing or events.
Please read this privacy notice carefully as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Personal information you disclose to us
In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Website or otherwise when you contact us.
The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Website, the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:
Personal Information Provided by You. We collect names; phone numbers; email addresses; mailing addresses; contact preferences; billing addresses; debit/credit card numbers; and other similar information.
Payment Data. We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by Stripe. You may find their privacy notice link(s) here: https://stripe.com/en-ie/privacy.
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.
Information automatically collected
In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Website.
We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate the Website. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Website and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Website, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.
Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.
The information we collect includes:
Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Website and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type and settings and information about your activity in the Website (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called ‘crash dumps’) and hardware settings).
Device Data. We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet or other device you use to access the Website. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system and system configuration information.
Location Data. We collect location data such as information about your device’s location, which can be either precise or imprecise. How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the Website. For example, we may use GPS and other technologies to collect geolocation data that tells us your current location (based on your IP address). You can opt out of allowing us to collect this information either by refusing access to the information or by disabling your Location setting on your device. Note however, if you choose to opt out, you may not be able to use certain aspects of the Services.
In Short: We process your information for purposes based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent.
We use personal information collected via our Website for a variety of business purposes described below. We process your personal information for these purposes in reliance on our legitimate business interests, in order to enter into or perform a contract with you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal obligations. We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below.
We use the information we collect or receive:
To facilitate account creation and logon process. If you choose to link your account with us to a third-party account (such as your Google or Facebook account), we use the information you allowed us to collect from those third parties to facilitate account creation and logon process for the performance of the contract.
To post testimonials. We post testimonials on our Website that may contain personal information. Prior to posting a testimonial, we will obtain your consent to use your name and the content of the testimonial. If you wish to update, or delete your testimonial, please contact us at [email protected] and be sure to include your name, testimonial location, and contact information.
Request feedback. We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Website.
To enable user-to-user communications. We may use your information in order to enable user-to-user communications with each user’s consent.
To manage user accounts. We may use your information for the purposes of managing our account and keeping it in working order.
To send administrative information to you. We may use your personal information to send you product, service and new feature information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.
To protect our Services. We may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Website safe and secure (for example, for fraud monitoring and prevention).
To enforce our terms, conditions and policies for business purposes, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or in connection with our contract.
To respond to legal requests and prevent harm. If we receive a subpoena or other legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond.
Fulfill and manage your orders. We may use your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Website.
Administer prize draws and competitions. We may use your information to administer prize draws and competitions when you elect to participate in our competitions.
To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We may use your information to provide you with the requested service.
To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Services.
To send you marketing and promotional communications. We and/or our third-party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. For example, when expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our Website, subscribing to marketing or otherwise contacting us, we will collect personal information from you. You can opt-out of our marketing emails at any time (see the “WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS” below).
Deliver targeted advertising to you. We may use your information to develop and display personalized content and advertising (and work with third parties who do so) tailored to your interests and/or location and to measure its effectiveness.
For other business purposes. We may use your information for other business purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Website, products, marketing and your experience. We may use and store this information in aggregated and anonymized form so that it is not associated with individual end users and does not include personal information. We will not use identifiable personal information without your consent.
In Short: We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.
We may process or share your data that we hold based on the following legal basis:
Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose.
Legitimate Interests: We may process your data when it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests.
Performance of a Contract: Where we have entered into a contract with you, we may process your personal information to fulfill the terms of our contract.
Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).
Vital Interests: We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:
Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
Vendors, Consultants and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include: payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service and marketing efforts. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking technology on the Website, which will enable them to collect data on our behalf about how you interact with our Website over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, pages or features, and better understand online activity. Unless described in this notice, we do not share, sell, rent or trade any of your information with third parties for their promotional purposes. We have contracts in place with our data processors, which are designed to help safeguard your personal information. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will also not share your personal information with any organization apart from us. They also commit to protect the data they hold on our behalf and to retain it for the period we instruct.
In Short: We only share information with the following third parties.
We only share and disclose your information with the following third parties. We have categorized each party so that you may be easily understand the purpose of our data collection and processing practices. If we have processed your data based on your consent and you wish to revoke your consent, please contact us using the contact details provided in the section below titled “HOW CAN WE CONTACT YOU ABOUT THIS NOTICE?“.
Invoice and Billing
Stripe
Social Media Sharing and Advertising
AddThis
Web and Mobile Analytics
Google Analytics
Website Hosting
WordPress.com
In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.
We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Notice.
In Short: Yes, we use Google Maps Platform APIs for the purpose of providing better service.
This Website uses Google Maps Platform APIs which are subject to Google’s Terms of Service. You may find the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service here. To find out more about Google’s Privacy Policy, please refer to this link.
In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than 2 years.
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.
We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Website is at your own risk. You should only access the Website within a secure environment.
In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.
We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Website, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Website. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at [email protected].
In Short: In some regions, such as the European Economic Area, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.
In some regions (like the European Economic Area), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. To make such a request, please use the contact details provided below. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Please note however that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal, nor will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
If you are a resident in the European Economic Area and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.
If you are a resident in Switzerland, the contact details for the data protection authorities are available here: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html.
Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Website. To opt-out of interest-based advertising by advertisers on our Website visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.
In Short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.
If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Website, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Website. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Website, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.).
In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO), Martin Lindinger, by email at [email protected], by phone at +353 46 955 7585, or by post to:
Ballet Ireland, The National Ballet of Ireland, Martin Lindinger, Agher, Summerhill, Meath A83 WK70, Ireland.
Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it in some circumstances. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please email: [email protected]. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
Kevin was born in Augsburg, Germany and started dancing at the age of five in his home town at the Ballett und Tanzzentrum. In 2011, he furthered his ballet training by accepting a place at the renowned John Cranko Academy in Stuttgart where he subsequently graduated in 2018.
During his time at the school he had the chance to work with the Stuttgart Ballet in classic pieces such as: Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Romeo & Juliet. He also performed pieces in contemporary repertoire including: A Spell on You choreographed by the world-renowned choreographer Marco Goecke, which was performed not only in Stuttgart but also at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the Kremlin Theatre in Russia.
Kevin has performed with Ballet Ireland in Giselle, The Nutcracker, Bold Moves and Swan Lake.
Kevin has taught ballet at the Internationale Ballettakademie Augsburg and the Deutscher Jugendtanzpreis.
Born in Dublin, Hayley started ballet at the Celbridge School of Ballet and was a member of the Irish National Youth Ballet. At the age of 16, she went to further her training at Northern Ballet School in Manchester and subsequently transferred to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she graduated with a BA in Modern Ballet in 2015. Hayley completed the Professional Graduate Programme at Northern Ballet in Leeds and she participated in rehearsals and performances with the company in their productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
Hayley previously performed with Ballet Ireland in The Nutcracker (2016).
Born in Dublin, Jane trained with Anne Campbell-Crawford at the Dublin School of Classical and Contemporary Dance and later at the Russian Ballet Centre. She continued her training at the Perm State Academy in Russia and at the Princess Grace Academy in Monte Carlo under Marika Besobrasova.
From 2001-2015 she worked with Ballet Ireland performing a range of roles in ballets such as the Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, as well as more modern works such as Carmen by Morgann Runacre-Temple and Lost by Ludovic Ondiviela. She has also acted as rehearsal director, created works for the company’s choreographic platforms and worked extensively with the educational team. She has performed with Chrysalis Dance Company in works by director Judith Sibley and guest choreographer Theo Clinkard, with Goldenboy Productions in The King and I, Operaworks’ Orpheus, Whynot Dance Company, Lyric Opera and Opera de Monte Carlo as well as dance on film.
In 2003 and 2007 she was the recipient of a further training and development award from the Arts Council to study in New York. Jane was introduced to teaching at the Princess Grace Academy where all students assisted with the junior classes as part of their training. Her teaching work includes Irish National Youth Ballet, Regal Ballet and Kensington Ballet School in London, professional morning class for Dance Ireland and as a guest teacher for Youth Ballet West, Irish Ballet Forum and several Irish ballet schools.
In 2019 Jane received a B.A (Hons) degree in French and Classical Civilisation from Trinity College Dublin.
Marguerite is an innovative, contemporary choreographer and performer based in Berlin. Known for her humour and profound creativity, her work thrills an unusually broad audience. With stylistic innovation, Irish wit and the combination of different art forms, Marguerite Donlon has pushed artistic limits to secure a place in the international dance scene.
A native of Ireland, Donlon’s childhood was marked by traditional Irish dance; only at the age of 16 did she begin professional ballet training. Her first engagement was with the English National Ballet. In 1990, she was invited as a soloist to the Deutsche Oper Berlin where she worked with dance legends such as Natalia Makarova, Rudolf Nureyev and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. Donlon, however, found her place working with and dancing the repertoire of the most influential contemporary choreographers, including William Forsythe, Maurice Béjart, Meg Stuart, Bill T. Jones and Jiří Kylián.
From 2001–2013, Marguerite was the ballet director and house choreographer at the Saarländisches Staatstheater (Saarland State Theater). The company, known as the Donlon Dance Company, impressed audiences with its own unique style and quickly became a respected and sought-after ensemble invited to perform throughout Europe, the USA and Asia. Donlon is also the initiator and artistic director of the International Dance Festival ‘N.O.W. Dance Saar’, launched in 2006.
In 2009, Marguerite founded ‘iMove’, a highly motived and successful youth dance company comprising of 24 young people from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds with little or no dance background. This ongoing project has proven what dance can do to bring these diverse groups together in harmony.
Donlon created a variety of dance works in the past 12 years showing her versatility yet loyalty to true self expression. For this she has been critically acclaimed worldwide. Part of that variety has been the refreshing re-interpretations of ballet classics.
The Yearbook ‘Dance’ paid several tributes to her and the company over the years announcing them as ‘Best Company of the Year’, ‘Best Production’, ‘Best Dancer’, or ‘Most important work for the arts’.Giselle-Reloadedwas nominated for the ‘Prix Benois de la Danse’ with its mixture of contemporary dance and Irish traditional dance which has become a strong motif in her work. Romeo und Juliawas nominated for the German Theatre Prize ‘Die Faust’.
Marguerite Donlon has created choreographies for dance companies worldwide. Her work has been performed most recently by prima ballerina Svetlana Zacharova and the Bolshoi Ballet. She has also created for companies such as the Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (NDT), the Stuttgart Ballet, Berlin Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company in Chicago, Rambert Dance in London, the Companhia Nacional de Bailado (CNB) Portugal, Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz Munich, Musiktheater im Revier (MiR) Gelsenkirchen and The One Grand Show, Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin.
Donlon sees dance as a social connector and a tool to communicate on various levels. In 2012, she launched a large scale environmental awareness project about the growing problem of plastic in our oceans. After meeting environmentalist David De Rothschild and brainstorming together, she created a dance piece called Blue. She also created an interactive sculpture which involved 8.000 children collecting plastic bottle tops to fill the sculpture. This sculpture Plastic Oceanwas subsequently invited to Frankfurt to open the Eco Arts Festival and later was invited to tour Greece to help promote awareness to the problem. As a result, Donlon was invited to the world summit for water pollution in Berlin to talk about how dance can reach so many people through a positive approach and how this can influence scientific and political endeavours.
Before leaving Saarbruecken and her company after 12 years, Marguerite Donlon created the ‘ZeichenTanz’ or ‘Sign Dance’. This project enabled hard of hearing audience members to better enjoy dance performances through the signing of music. She is currently working to introduce “ZeichenTanz” to other companies and theatres in Germany. Donlon is a pioneer at heart and her tool to reach out and communicate is through the performing arts. She is open minded and enjoys pushing boundaries together with teams of passionate people.
In addition to her artistic activities, Marguerite was awarded Medal of Merit by the Minister President of Saarland for her outstanding artistic work for the Saarland. In 2017, she received a Civic Reception in honour of her distinguished career as a ballet director and her acclaimed achievements in the world of dance. She was appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland to be a member of the Global Irish Network in 2012. In 2009, Donlon was invited to be a member of the Presidium of the Federal German ballet and dance theatre directors conference (BBTK) and was invited as an honorary member in 2013. In 2014, she became an accredited PCT and RD1st Business Coach and Leadership Mentor and combines her creative work and coaching skills in the world of business to enhance creative thinking and team building.
Ohad Naharin is the House Choreographer of Batsheva Dance Company and creator of the Gaga movement language.
Naharin was born in 1952 in Mizra, Israel. His mother is a choreographer, dance teacher and Feldenkrais instructor, and his father was an actor and psychologist. He joined Batsheva Dance Company in 1974 despite having little formal training. During his first year, guest choreographer Martha Graham invited him to join her own company in New York. Between 1975 and 1976, Naharin studied at the School of American Ballet, The Juilliard School, and with Maggie Black and David Howard. He then joined Maurice Béjart’s Ballet du XXe Siecle in Brussels for one season.
Naharin returned to New York in 1979 and made his choreographic debut at the Kazuko Hirabayshi studio the following year. From 1980 until 1990, Naharin presented works in New York and abroad, including pieces for Batsheva Dance Company, the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and Nederlands Dans Theater. At the same time, he worked with his first wife, Mari Kajiwara, and a group of dancers in New York. Naharin and Kajiwara continued to work together until she died from cancer in 2001.
In 1990, Naharin was appointed Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company, and in the same year, he established the company’s junior division, Batsheva – the Young Ensemble. He has since created over thirty works for both companies. After almost thirty years of leading Batsheva, Naharin stepped down as Artistic Director in 2018, and continues to serve as the Company’s House Choreographer.
In addition to his stagework, Naharin also developed GAGA, an innovative movement language based on research into heightening sensation and imagination, becoming aware of form, finding new movement habits, and going beyond familiar limits. GAGA is the daily training of Batsheva’s dancers and has spread globally among both dancers and non-dancers.
Naharin trained in music throughout his childhood and continues to infuse his work with a unique musicality. He collaborated with the Israeli rock group, The Tractor’s Revenge (Kyr, 1990), Avi Balleli and Dan Makov (Anaphaza, 1993), Ivri Lider (Z/na, 1995), and Grischa Lichtenberger (Last Work, 2015). Under the pseudonym Maxim Waratt, he composed music for MAX (2007) and edited and mixed the soundtracks for Mamootot (2003), Hora (2009), Sadeh21 (2011), The Hole (2013), Last Work (2015) and Venezuela (2017).
Naharin’s work has also been featured in several films. In his 2007 documentary, Out of Focus, Director Tomer Heymann filmed the process of restaging Decadance with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. And in 2015, the Heymann Brothers released their comprehensive documentary about Naharin, Mr. Gaga, to critical and audience acclaim.
A citizen of both Israel and the United States, Naharin currently lives in Israel with his wife, dancer and costume designer Eri Nakamura, and their daughter, Noga.
Geraldine has over 25 years experience as a volunteer for charitable and cross-community initiatives in Northern Ireland. She has over 20 years experience in the Irish Recruitment Industry and is the founder of an award winning recruitment agency in Dublin.
Geraldine is a graduate of Queens University Belfast.
(Appointed to the Board October 2018)
Morgann is a freelance choreographer from London working in ballet, contemporary dance, theatre, film and opera. She has created work for Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet, Ballet Central, The Print Room, Images of Dance, Northern Ballet Choreographic Lab 2016, Royal Ballet Participation, BBC Young Dancer of the Year 2017 and Wilton’s Music Hall.
Morgann was choreographer in residence at Ballet Ireland from 2009- 2015, creating over five full-length ballets including: Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet, Carmen and Coppélia.
In partnership with Jessica Wright, Morgann directs and choreographs dance films. Credits include: The Try Out for RANDOM ACTS Channel 4, The Last Resort (English National Ballet & TATE Liverpool) and Curing Albrecht (English National Ballet & Manchester International Festival, available on BBC iPlayer) Curing Albrecht won Best Film 2018 at NRDFF and Best Director at Portland Dance Film Festival.
Morgann has worked as a movement director and choreographer in opera and theatre, working with directors including Sam Brown (Barber of Seville WNO), Jeff James (Persuasion, Royal Exchange) and assisting choreographer Annie B Parsons on Enda Walsh and David Bowie’s musical Lazarus, directed by Ivo Van Hove.
As a dancer, Morgann performed for Ballet Ireland, English National Ballet, Rosie Kay Dance Company and the Curve Foundation. She trained at Central School of Ballet and London Contemporary Dance School and was a recipient of Dance East Rural Retreat Award for Future Dance Leaders 16/17.
Ludovic was born in Perpignan, France. He trained in Marseille Studio Ballet Colette Armand and two years later won a scholarship in the 2001 Prix de Lausanne to study at The Royal Ballet Upper School. Other awards included a Silver Medal at the 2000 Concours International de Danse, Paris, and a Gold Medal at the Roseta Mauri Competition in 2002. In his graduation year he performed the lead in Wheeldon’s Le Voyage and a Principal couple in Concerto at the School’s annual matinee.
He went on to join the Royal Ballet and his repertory included Bronze Idol (La Bayadère), Hans-Peter/Nutcracker (The Nutcracker), Tom Thumb (Tales of Beatrix Potter), Alain (La Fille Mal Gardée), Kolia (A Month in the Country) and Puck (The Dream). He created roles in Children of Adam, Chroma and ‘Trespass’ (Metamorphosis: Titian 2012), and various other creations by Wayne McGregor, Liam Scarlet and Christopher Weeldon.
His choreography regularly features in The Royal Ballet’s Draft Works, Young Choreographer’s evening, and across several galas around Europe. Ludovic created Dopamine (you make my levels go silly) for the 2013 Ballet Black season and Berlin for ‘Men in Motion’. Since leaving the Royal Ballet in October 2014, Ludovic created and directed his first full-length work Cassandra which opened at the ROH Linbury Theatre. He has choreographed 4 times 4 for the Gandini Company which opened in November 2014 at the Royal Opera House as part of the London Mime Festival.
In 2015 he created Lost for Ballet Ireland. He then created The Memories of Francesca Woodman for the Northern Ballet Choreographic lab and in March 2016, Ludovic created Sliver of Sky for Amnesty International which was performed at Sadlers Wells, London. More recently, Ludovic has choreographed for various commercials, including a collaboration with Jordan Scott / RSA films.
Ludovic created a new Virtual Reality project in collaboration with DJ Seth Troxler and film director Ryan Hope, and a new work commissioned by Makeshift company, Insomniac’s Fable which premiered in Helsinki in 2018.
Ludovic created Giselle for Ballet Ireland in 2017.
Filipe Portugal was born in 1978 in Lisbon where he studied ballet at the National Conservatory of Portugal.
After finishing his studies he was invited by the director Jorge Salavisa to join the National Ballet of Portugal as a member of the Corps de Ballet. After six years, he left the company as a soloist to join the Ballett Zürich under the direction of Heinz Spoerli where he had danced for seven years. He left Ballett Zürich as a principal dancer to return to Portugal with the same category but his stay was only for a short period of time. A year and a half later he returned to Zürich where he is still dancing as a principal dancer under the direction of Christian Spuck.
Filipe made his debut as a choreographer in Portugal for a choreographic workshop with the piece Anfractus (2001), which was chosen to become part of the company’s repertoire. After that he has choreographed Alleged Dances (2007) for the Junior Ballet Zürich, Road B (2007) for Zürich Ballett and Sonata (2008) again for the Junior Ballet, all under the direction of Heinz Spoerli.
Under the direction of Christian Spuck he created for the Young Choreographers a piece called Silk Road (2013) and was asked to create a duet for the Sylvester Gala 2013, Liebestod. The year after he created another piece for the Young Choreographers Different Trains (2014) and was invited to create for the Junior Ballet Zürich, Tauwetter (2014). Shortly after this, he made his first creation for Ballet Zürich under Spuck’s direction, called Diaologos.
Filipe also created Masqueradein 2015 for the Zürich Opera Ballet and two pieces for the Dance Academy Zurich (TAZ) under the direction of Oliver Mats and Steffi Scherzer: Uncontrolled (2015) and Piazzola(2015). In 2017 he created a duet for the Junior Ballet Zürich Behind the Mirror and for Ballett Zürich disTANZ.
2018 was the year of his North American debut with the piece Stepping Over that he created for the Charlotte Ballet company. He also created Heavy Lightness for the evening of Noverre-Young Choreographers 2018 at the Stuttgart Ballet. Shortly after that, he created O não efémero for young Portuguese talents and recently finished his last creation for the Junior Ballet Zürich with Echo of Elements.
Zoë is a dance artist and choreographer from Dublin. Since completing her professional training with the English National Ballet School in London, she has danced for companies and choreographers all over Europe. Her first professional engagement was with Ballet Ireland in 2009. During her time with the company she danced the title roles of Carmen and Juliet which were both choreographed by Morgann Runacre-Temple and performed in theatres all over Ireland and the UK.
Zoë subsequently went on to be professionally engaged with English National Ballet Company, Peter Schaufuss Ballett (Denmark) and Ballett Vorpommern (Germany). Zoë’s choreographic practice has been supported by The Arts Council of Ireland and Dance Ireland.
In 2016 Zoë choreographed and performed in the short Dance film Ballet Átha Cliath, which was directed by Howard Jones and featured an original score by Irish band Cloud Castle Lake. The film has most recently been accepted to the LA dance shorts film festival in the USA. In 2017 she was shortlisted for a best dancer nomination in Germany’s Der Faust Awards for her role of Rebecca in Ralf Dörnen’s Rebecca’s schatten a ballet adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel, Rebecca.
In August 2018 Zoë joined The Royal Ballet of Flanders as a full time member of the ensemble.
Email: [email protected]
Martin Lindinger was born in Munich, Germany. He trained at the Royal Ballet School in London, England. Martin’s professional dance career spanned over twenty years and included working in companies such as Rambert Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (USA), The National Ballet of Canada, Ballet BC (Canada) and Scottish Ballet. In 2003, he was the recipient of the U.K. Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Artist (modern).
Martin has also worked as guest répétiteur at the Croatian National Ballet for the re-staging of Ashley Page’s full-length ballet Alice, as Assistant Choreographer on Orfeo ed Eurydice at Scottish Opera and also as Assistant Choreographer on Krol Roger at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. His teaching credits include: Ballet BC (Canada), Charlotte Ballet (USA), Scottish Ballet and Ballet Ireland.
After becoming Rehearsal Director for Ballet Ireland in 2015, Martin was promoted to General Manager in March 2017.
Martin is a guest lecturer in Dance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Email: [email protected]
Stephen started dance training at the Elliott-Clarke School in Liverpool, underwent further training at Bush Davies Schools in East Grinstead, Sussex, before graduating from Central School of Ballet, London.
His performing career has spanned some thirty years, dancing with many of Europe’s ballet companies including London Ballet Theatre, Malmö Stadsteater Balett (Sweden), The National Norwegian Ballet and The Scottish Ballet.
Stephen joined Ballet Ireland in 1999 and since his appointment as Education Officer a year later, has developed the company’s extensive outreach programme. He has choreographed two short works for Ballet Ireland, ‘Figaro, Factotem’ (2003) and ‘School for Lovers’ (2004), and over thirty works for performance by children and young adults.
In addition to his work with Ballet Ireland, Stephen has collaborated several times with productions for Irish National Youth Ballet and is a former Board Member of Irish Ballet Forum.
Heather is one of Ireland’s leading practitioners of digital business strategy, a discipline that improves and expands how firms create and deliver value for customers online.
Her career narrative has been defined by the maverick and the unconventional having started her career in music before channeling her creativity into the world of management consultancy and communications. Heather held a number of senior management roles in the software and creative services industries including Managing Director of a number of award winning communications consultancies and C Suite positions in the ICT space with responsibility for either establishing or scaling businesses over the past two decades. She currently runs a successful digital strategy consultancy advising organisations including RTE, ESB, Failte Ireland and various government departments on how to articulate and implement their growth vision through the procurement and development of digital assets and business units.
Heather is an honours graduate of Queens University Belfast, Dublin Institute of Technology, the Irish Management Institute and a member of the Marketing Institute and Marketing Society of Ireland. She is also an AAI (Association of Advertisers in Ireland) and IAPI (Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland) Accredited Pitch Consultant.
She is also involved in a number of non-profit initiatives and social enterprises including iCompany and Irish Charity Lab and mentors high potential start-ups for Enterprise Ireland on marketing and technology initiatives.
(Appointed to the Board January 2013)
Ballet Ireland is planning a number of different strands of work over the coming months in response to the situation we face. We wish to support our dance artists and our art form in Ireland through this crisis.
Please check back periodically.
Laura was born in Madrid, Spain. She completed her dance studies at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Madrid before joining the Stuttgart Ballet. After leaving Stuttgart, she decided to pursue a career as a freelance dancer and was subsequently invited to participate in projectswith Tamara Rojo, Goyo Montero and Patrick de Bana among others. Laura was invited to join English National Ballet where she worked for more than six years and had the opportunity to perform in stand-out soloist roles throughout the repertoire. In 2012 she joined the Ballet de la Generalitat Valenciana as a soloist dancer where she had the opportunity to focus her career to a more contemporary style, this included performing works by Nacho Duato, Ramón Oller, Thierry Malandain, Ohad Naharin and Marcos Morau.
After finishing her experience as a dancer, she began her career as a répétiteur with Valencia Dancing Forward. Laura was also a guest teacher at the Choreographic Centre of Valencia, Ballet Nacional de Marseille, Ballet Basel and various other professional schools in Spain.
Laura has also explored her own choreographic path with works that have included: Caprichos (Palau de les Arts Valencia and VDF2017), Cuadros de un exposición (Unión Musical Santa Cecilia), Mozart und tanz (Palau de les Arts Valencia)and Ma mere l’oye (VDF2018 and Orquesta de Extremadura).
Louise completed her undergraduate degree in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has a Masters in European Economic and Public Affairs from UCD. Louise trained in Matheson Ormsby Prentice Solicitors (now Matheson Solicitors) in Dublin and qualified in 2005. On qualification she worked in the areas of EC law and Litigation & Regulatory law and during that time she also completed a Masters in EC Competition Law from Kings College London. In early 2012, Louise joined the Central Bank of Ireland where she is currently working.
Louise has co-authored and published a number of articles on EC, Competition law and Regulatory law. She lectures and tutors European law in the law school of the Law Society and is Vice Chairperson of the Law Society’s EU & International Affairs Committee.
(Appointed to the Board September 2014)
