Nostalgia: Legendary figure who put Cork ballet on the map

IN April 1979 Joan Denise Moriarty’s most famous ballet, The Playboy of the Western World, made its American debut in New York.

It was one of many highlights in the career of the legendary dancer, choreographer and teacher, so synonymous with Cork and with ballet.

Having been brought up in England, Ms Moriarty returned to Cork in 1933, setting up her first school of dance in Mallow a year later.

She moved to the city in 1940 and founded the Cork Ballet Group in 1947.

She would go on to tour with various companies throughout Ireland and in Europe and in 1959 founded the Irish Theatre Ballet.

In 1973, the Irish government decided to fund a professional ballet company, entrusted to Moriarty: the Irish Ballet Company.

It is 40 years this month since the Playboy’s first run, which was praised in The New York Times for its charm.

“All the Irish music you would want to hear in one evening is another incentive,” the review said. “Foot tapping in the theater [sic] was endemic.”

Ms Moriarty’s choreography was matched with music composed and played by The Chieftains and was also performed in Cork, of course, and throughout Ireland.

More than 30 years later, in 2012, ballet stars from all over the world came together for the Joan Denise Moriarty Centenary Gala at the Firkin Crane.

One of Ms Moriarty’s best known pupils, founder and artistic director of Cork City Ballet Alan Foley, directed the gala and included an adaptation of her ‘Playboy’.

To celebrate the anniversary of that New York performance, we pay tribute to the great teacher herself but also the ballet culture which has been in place in Cork city for decades and continues to the present day.

From homegrown talent to visiting stars, Cork’s place in national and international ballet is assured.