Cork Youth Ballet Company

So proud of these girls ❤️

Some members of Sinead Murphy's Cork Youth Ballet at The Hibernian Hotel & Leisure Centre performing at Remembering Joan Denise Moriarty, Mallow's First Lady of Dance.
Cork County Council

Our dancers perform in Mallow this evening in a special tribute performance honouring Joan Denise Moriarty. Thank you Elaine Desmond and Mallow Arts Festival for inviting Patricia Crosbie and myself to speak at this wonderful event. Tonight we celebrate Miss Moriarty on her birthday, the remarkable woman who shaped so many dance careers and gave us all the rich heritage of ballet that we have today.

✨ A Dance Intensive with a Difference ✨

Our independently run dance intensive is open to dance students from across Munster to train in a warm, welcoming, hardworking and inspiring environment.

🩰Open to dancers from ALL schools
✨Train with current and former professional dancers
🌟Learn from the Artistic Director and Ballet Mistress of Cork City Ballet
🩰 Learn exciting new repertoire
💪Refresh your technique after the summer break
🤍Meet dancers from across Munster
🔥Work hard. Grow. Be Inspired,

No school boundaries, just passionate dancers coming together to learn, make new friends and start the new school year feeling stronger, fresher and more confident than ever.

The course will be grid in Longyard Studios, from 17th to 20th August. Each day will run from 10am to 5pm.

❤️ We can’t wait to welcome you! ✨

I’m so pleased that our CYBC dancers will be performing at a very special tribute event honouring the late Joan Denise Moriarty. Miss Moriarty played a pivotal role in shaping my dance journey and career, her wisdom, passion, tenacity and dignity continue to inspire me. The memories and life lessons are treasures I hold close to my heart. Her vision, dedication and passion laid the foundation for countless dance careers and the rich tradition we have in Cork for classical ballet. Join us at The Mallow Arts Festival on 22nd July in The Hibernian Hotel to pay tribute to a truly remarkable woman whose impact was incredible. We would not have our rich heritage for classical ballet if not wasn’t for her. I’m so proud and honoured her legacy lives on. -legacy

Delighted Alan will be one of the teachers at Be Inspired: Back to Ballet in August.

Alan Foley, Founder and Artistic Director of Cork City Ballet, began his training with the renowned Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance and the Cork Ballet Company. Further training included the Harrison College of Dance and Drama in London, the Vaganova Ballet Academy Summer School in Russia in 1989, the Broadway Dance Centre in New York, and classes with many distinguished teachers and dancers in Pineapple Dance Studios in London.

He has choreographed and produced all of Cork City Ballet’s productions since 1992, including the hugely successful ‘Ballet Spectacular’ seasons, which have toured to all the major venues in Ireland. During that time, he has worked alongside some of the most illustrious dancers of our generation including Prima Ballerina Lucia Lacarra, Veronika Ivanova, Sofia Gumerova and Nikita Shcheglov from the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, Erina Takahashi and Elena Glurdjidze from English National Ballet, Ekaterina Bortyakova and Akzhol Mussakhanov from Moscow State Ballet and Marie Lindqvist and Jan-Erik Wikstrom from the Royal Swedish Ballet.

As a dancer, his energy and stage presence were consistently noted by the critics in many major classical ballets such as ‘Swan Lake’, ‘The Nutcracker’, ‘Don Quixote’, ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Le Corsaire’ and ‘La Bayadere’ among others.
In 1998, he was the first person in Ireland to be awarded the prestigious Fellowship Diploma in Classical Ballet (with distinction), of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in London.
Alan retired from the professional stage in May 2007 but continues his work as Artistic Director of Cork City Ballet and Principal of the Alan Foley Academy of Dance.

Recent work for Cork City Ballet includes a new production of ‘Swan Lake’, ‘Giselle’, The Nutcracker’ and ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ with Yury Demakov from the Bolshoi Ballet.

So pleased Aoibhinn Quirke is joining us once again for our Be Inspired: Back to Ballet Course in August.

Aoibhínn from Ballincollig, Cork graduated from London Studio Centre with a first-class honours degree in 2020, where she received the Gillian Lynne award for her overall achievement throughout her training in Jazz Dance.

Aoibhínn is a qualified dance teacher and member of the IDTA, ISTD, RAD and IBTA. She has taught and choreographed for various performing arts schools and universities across Cork, London and Sydney. She set up her own classes ‘Aspire with Aoibhínn’ in 2020 to promote the continuation of pre-professional/ professional dance training in Cork City.

Aoibhínn is a qualified personal trainer and is currently a coach with The Bulletproof Dancer, specialising in personal training and coaching for pre-professional and professional dancers.

Aoibhínn also graduated from Hibernia College with a Master’s in Primary School Education in 2023.

Some of Aoibhínn’s performing credits include, Dance Captain, Ensemble and Cover Jasmine, ‘Aladdin’ Cork Opera House, Dancer for the ‘Europa League Final’, Dancer for Disney’s ‘Disenchanted’, Dancer for ‘Vikings of Valhalla’ Netflix, Dance Captain and Ensemble ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ Cork Opera House, Featured Dancer ‘Walk Away’ Una Healy music video, Ensemble ‘Nanny Nellie’s Adventures in Pantoland’ Cork Opera House, Featured Dancer ‘Workout’ Alex Hoskings and DJ Craig Goodman music video.

Aoibhínn is so excited to be back teaching at the Be Inspired course this summer.

The good news keeps coming. Thank you Golden Dance Awards. Such an honour to be a finalist for Training Programme of the Year. Thank you to my team for all the work you do with our CYBC dancers. Lots planned for the next season.

Delighted to welcome back Patricia Crosbie to our teaching team for Be Inspired, Back to Ballet 2026. Patricia is Ballet Mistress for Cork City Ballet and Cork Youth Ballet Company and brings a wealth of teaching and performance experience to the team, Booking is now open, contact Sinéad at [email protected] for further information