In a few short weeks, DanceHouse on Foley Street in Dublin will fill with the sound of pointe shoes on marley, music echoing between studios, and the heightened hush of a room full of young dancers concentrating. Ballet Ireland’s Summer Intensive returns this month on the 27 July, and Week 1 is already fully booked. Places currently still remain for Week 2: register here.

If you’re joining us this summer, or simply wondering whether a ballet summer intensive in Dublin might be right for you or your dancer next year, here’s a look inside the week.

 

A DAY AT THE INTENSIVE

 

The Summer Intensive is built the way a professional dancer’s day is built: each morning begins with a ballet-based Pilates class (the strength and conditioning work that supports everything a dancer does in the studio) led by Hayley Cunningham, a Ballet Ireland alumna who discovered Pilates as a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and never looked back.

From there, the day moves through classical technique, pointe work for more intermediate dancers, and repertoire, running from 9:45am to 5pm. It’s a full schedule by design and is called an intensive for a reason. For students used to an evening class or two a week, five consecutive days of training is where real change can happen. The corrections a student receives on Monday quickly become habits by Thursday. And by Friday, these students are all dancing differently.

With school out for the summer, these students have the rare opportunity to spend an entire week on what they love to do: dance.

 

LEARN FROM PROFESSIONALS WHO DANCE FOR A LIVING

 

What sets a company intensive apart from other summer courses is its proximity to the profession. Students will train with artists who have spent their lives and careers on international stages and in company studios. It’s a rare and special peek behind the metaphorical and literal curtain of what it’s like to be a professional ballet dancer.

This year’s faculty includes Ballet Ireland co-founder and Artistic Director Anne Maher, who trained in Monte Carlo on a scholarship awarded by Princess Grace of Monaco and danced as a principal across Europe before founding the company in 1998; choreographer Filipe Portugal, former principal dancer with Ballett Zürich, whose work All That Remains was created for Ballet Ireland; Serena Cundari, who danced with The Australian Ballet and companies across Europe; Kate Lyons, Rehearsal Director of London City Ballet and a longtime principal artist with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures; and Ballet Ireland Rehearsal Director Dominic Harrison.

These are the same artists who coach and rehearse professional dancers, and this summer, they’re coaching you.

 

MORE THAN JUST TECHNIQUE

 

Ask past students what stays with them, and it’s rarely just the classes: it’s the experience of working the way professionals work. Learning repertoire from those who have danced it, spending a week inside Ireland’s premier dance faculty, and being surrounded by other serious dancers from across the country (and beyond!). Many students are attending for the first time, and others are happily reuniting from previous summers.

For those considering vocational training or a professional career path, the Intensive is also an honest preview of what the life looks like, day in and day out. And for those dancing purely for the love of it, it’s a week of immersion that carries them throughout the rest of the year.

“The teachers are really excellent,” a former participant said. “They challenge us but it’s the right level of challenge! We get to create our own dances which was a lot of fun. Most of all we were dancing every day all day!”

 

JOIN US THIS SUMMER

 

The 2026 Summer Intensive runs across two weeks at DanceHouse, Foley Street, Dublin 1:

• Week 1: Monday 27 – Friday 31 July – Fully booked!
• Week 2: Tuesday 4 – Saturday 8 August – Places remaining

The course is open to dancers aged 12+, Grade 4 to professional level, and costs €300 per week. Spaces are limited!

Register for Week 2

And if you’re joining us this summer, keep an eye on our socials during the Intensive. We’ll be sharing daily life from the studios, and telling the story of the weeks right here on the blog in August.