Joan Denise Moriarty

427: 36: 418:, but depended mainly on funding from business and private patrons. In an attempt to resolve the constant financial difficulties, the Arts Council in 1963 insisted on a merger with Patricia Ryan's Dublin National Ballet. But the amalgamation did not bring a solution to the financial problems besetting both companies, and after one joint season in Dublin in the late autumn of 1963 and in Cork the following January, the amalgamated company, Irish National Ballet, had to be disbanded in March 1964. 292:, accompanied by the Cork Symphony Orchestra under its conductor Aloys Fleischmann. Stage scenery was designed by Marshall Hutson, Frank Sanquest and later by Patrick Murray; costume designs were provided by Clare Hutson, Maeve Coakley, Rachel Russell, who also made many of the costumes. Alec Day and Leslie Horne took charge of the lighting. From 1948 the group gave an annual week of ballet, also bringing its show to towns in 435:

its productions. A later "Abbey School of Ballet" was founded by two of its dancers, and continued with performances into the 1950s (but was primarily a school). Two more projects were launched by students of de Valois. First, in 1936, Sara Payne launched her Ballet School and Company, which performed eight ballets between then and 1942. Then in 1939

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was the ballet master, Muriel Large was the administrator. Conditions were difficult for the dancers: salaries were small, as was the grant with which the company had to make do; the buildings that had to be used for training and rehearsal were far from ideal; performance facilities in the provincial

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Moriarty spent almost 60 years working for ballet in Ireland. Her amateur Cork Ballet Company is still the longest-lasting ballet company the country has had; her two professional touring companies brought ballet to all parts of Ireland for in all 21 years. She received numerous awards for her work,

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to report on dance in Ireland. The report proposed a sharp reduction of the already inadequate budget of the Irish National Ballet, while requiring it to incur greater expenses through increased touring and procuring the funds needed from corporate sources. It was critical of Moriarty, who resigned

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The Council allotted a mere 7.6% of its budget to dance, and a large portion of that went to Irish National Ballet, though the grant was not substantial enough to keep the company out of debt. Contemporary dance groups and other dance organisations sought change in the distribution of the funds. In

235:, annual art competitions with a focus on traditional dance and music, competing in Irish step-dancing, war pipes and operatic solo singing. She performed on the war pipes in various public concerts and gave at least two broadcasts. In 1938 she was invited by Seán Neeson, lecturer in Irish music at 533:

Moriarty was succeeded by the Finnish dancer and choreographer, Anneli Vourenjuuri-Robinson, who sought to implement a three-year plan accepted by the Arts Council. But in 1988 the Council decided to withdraw its grant before the end of the three-year period, and also terminated funding for Dublin

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Irish Theatre Ballet was the first professional dance company in Ireland for some time. The Abbey Theatre School of Ballet had been run by Ninette de Valois with the support of W.B. Yeats from 1927 to 1933, and was not just a school but a performing company, with de Valois herself often dancing in

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Irish Theatre Ballet was founded by Moriarty in the summer of 1959, and gave its first performance in December 1959 in the presence of its patron, Marie Rambert. It was a small touring company of 10 to 12 dancers, which travelled all over Ireland, north and south, going to some 70 venues annually

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Contemporary Dance Theatre. The Office of the Taoiseach thereupon gave Irish National Ballet a special grant for a year. Domy Reiter-Soffer and Patrick Murray directed the company during that time. The Arts Council did not reconsider its decision and the company's last ballet was Reiter-Soffer's

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Branches of the Moriarty School of Dance were established in Bandon, Clonmel, Fermoy, Killarney, Mallow, Tralee, Waterford, Youghal. Moriarty bequeathed her Cork school to Breda Quinn, a long-standing member of the Cork Ballet Company, who ran it with another Moriarty student, Sinéad Murphy, who

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Moriarty had a double dance training: she trained in ballet and in traditional Irish dance. This, together with her musical competence, provided a sound basis on which to develop a new type of ballet. She based many of her ballets on Irish mythology, legend and folklore. In this regard she was

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launched the Irish Ballet Club, which performed 14 ballets up to 1944. Finally, Patricia Ryan launched the National Ballet School in 1956, and added a formal Ballet Company in 1959, and these operated until the forced merger with Irish Theatre Ballet, and the subsequent closure of them all.

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Moriarty's mother died in February 1940; the following November she moved to Cork where she set up the Moriarty School of Dancing. The early years during the war were very difficult financially. In the early 1940s, she performed with her dancers in musicals and variety shows at the

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Little is known of Moriarty's early life. Her year of birth is estimated between 1910 and 1913 but no documentation has been found. The place of her birth is also unknown, and even the country is uncertain. She grew up as the daughter of Michael Augustus Moriarty (an alumnus of

558:, the former centre of Cork's international butter trade, was put up for sale in 1979. Moriarty applied successfully to the Arts Council to have it bought for the Irish Ballet Company. A Trust Fund was set up to secure the finance for the rebuilding with former Taoiseach 475:

came to Cork to produce some of their works with the company. The Israeli choreographer, Domy Reiter-Soffer, who had been a member of Irish Theatre Ballet, became the company's artistic advisor and created many new works of great range in theme and type.

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was the company's pianist. Marshall Hutson and his wife, Clare, produced stage designs and costumes for many of the shows. 24 new ballets were created for the company; new music was commissioned for five of these, among them two folk ballets for which

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Aloys Fleischmann had a similar aim with regard to music. Both he and Moriarty sought to create a specifically Irish form of their respective arts with works on Irish themes, fusing elements of the Irish traditional heritage with the classical forms.

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centres were often dire. On the other hand, the dancers performed in a greater variety of roles than they would have done in a bigger company; they worked closely with many international choreographers and were encouraged to choreograph themselves.

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following in the footsteps of the writers of the previous generation, who had brought elements of speech deriving from the Irish language into their literary works and had drawn on the Gaelic literary heritage for their material.

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She was an accomplished Irish step-dancer and traditional musician, and became the champion Irish stepdancer of Britain on 24 April 1931. She also won a swimming championship. She was a member of the Liverpool branch of the

1248: 505:; Fleischmann composed the music, and Patrick Murray designed the sets. On the strength of these achievements, the government agreed in 1983 to the company changing its name to Irish National Ballet. 452:. It received a government grant at first and was subsequently financed by the Arts Council. Ninette de Valois was patron. She attended the first performance unannounced and donated half the Dutch 754:

During the last years of her life, she suffered ill health, but continued her work with the Cork Ballet Company, bringing the shows to towns in the county. She died on 24 January 1992 in Dublin.

323:. For the first ten years, Moriarty danced in many of the ballets. From 1956 the Company performed with international guest artists – among them, at a special ballet recital of 1965, Sir 266:

centenary. Moriarty agreed, on condition that his Cork Symphony Orchestra would play for her Ballet Company's annual performances, which marked the beginning of a lifelong collaboration.

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The 1980s was a period of severe recession in Ireland. The Arts Council's budget was reduced amid increasing demands for the shrinking funds. In 1982 the Council ceased funding the

808:(The Planting Stick) choreographed by Pat Ahern, performed by Rinceoirí na Riochta with Jimmy Smith, Kerry Fleischmann Choir, Kerry Chamber Orchestra conducted by Aidan O'Carroll 1245: 866:, Cork, 2012, p. 75. Certificates, medals, and newspaper cuttings in her personal scrapbook are among the Moriarty Collection, Cork City Central Library, Grand Parade, Cork. 366:

and participated successfully in the Deidesheim and Dillenburg Folk Dance Festivals. In 1966 and 1967 the group, together with the Cork Ballet Company, was commissioned by

179:. How long she was enrolled in the Rambert School is not known, as there are no records of students, but only of performers, but her training there was referenced by Dame 459:

Like Irish Theatre Ballet, Moriarty's first professional company, it was a touring company, which travelled all over Ireland in two annual seasons. David Gordon of the

1337: 370:, the state broadcasting service, to give 13 television programmes of Irish dance called "An Damhsa" (the dance), choreographed by Moriarty, costumes by Clare Hutson. 1262: 956:, Cork 1998, pp. 157–58; see also there accounts by dancers Julia Cotter, Pat Dillon, Joahne O'Hara, Domy Reiter-Soffer, and Maureen Weldon, pp. 158–75. 876: 773:

1997, Firkin Crane: Fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Cork Ballet Company; commemorative exhibition curated by Monica Gavin and Breda Quinn

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Moriarty founded the Cork Ballet Group in 1947, the members recruited from her school. It gave its first performance in June of that year in the

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to packed houses. In 1992 the Ballet Week was given in tribute to its founder, who had died in January of that year; the President of Ireland,

517:, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Irish Theatre Company, the country's touring theatre company, continuing to support only the iconic 1111: 554:

From 1973, appropriate accommodation was needed for the professional ballet company, which was operating in unsuitable premises. The

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International Folk Dance Festival in France. As a prize-winner, it was invited back to Dijon in 1965. In 1966 the group travelled to

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in France. In 1981, the Dublin Theatre Festival commissioned Moriarty again; she created a 3-act ballet based on the old Irish epic

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1933: Participated in the solo war pipes competition at the Scots Gathering and Highland Games at Morecambe and Heysham in

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26 April 2010, Firkin Crane: Cork City Ballet Fleischmann Centenary Gala with a revival of part of the Moriarty ballet

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was designated to become the Dance Centre of the city. It opened in April 1992, three months after Moriarty's death.

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A.J. Potter (1918–1980): The Career and Creative Achievement of an Irish Composer in Social and Cultural Context

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for baritone, war pipes, choir and orchestra, which had been commissioned by the national broadcasting company,

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in County Cork. In 1934, she set up her first school of dance there. From 1938 she also gave weekly classes in

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2007, Bishopstown Library, Cork: Moriarty exhibition, curated by Monica Gavin, Breda Quinn, Cherry O'Keefe

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In 1954 the group was registered as a company under the name "Cork Ballet Company". Its patrons were Dame

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and musician. She was a key figure in the development of both amateur and professional ballet in Ireland.

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1931 London: Champion Irish Stepdancer of England at the London Irish Step Dance Championship. Gold Medal

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

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Joan Denise Moriarty: Founder of Irish National Ballet – Material for a History of Dance in Ireland

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1 May 2010, Cork City Hall: Cork International Choral Festival closing concert, Moriarty's ballet

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2007, Cork City Library: Moriarty exhibition, curated by Monica Gavin, Breda Quinn, Cherry O'Keefe

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The company had a number of striking successes between 1978 and 1981. Moriarty's ballet, based on

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wrote the music for two ballets choreographed by Geoffrey Davidson for Irish Theatre Ballet:

480: 149: 546:, performed in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. In 1989 Irish National Ballet had to be disbanded. 1307: 926:

See Monica Gavin, "The Cork Ballet Company: A Brief History", in: Ruth Fleischmann (ed.):

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by Yuri Demakov. Opening of the exhibition "The Music for the Ballet" by Domy Reiter-Soffer

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in 1979 to mark the centenary of Pearse's birth. It was premiered in June 1983 in Dublin's

472: 8: 224: 157: 175:, where she was living in the 1930s. She studied ballet until her early teens with Dame 617: 145: 141: 489:, was commissioned for the Dublin Theatre Festival of 1978, with music played live by 426: 1224: 1210: 1199: 1185: 1171: 1157: 1143: 819: 609: 573: 565: 400: 354:

Festival for many years, travelled in 1958 to the Youth Festival of Wewelsburg (near

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supported the undertaking; funding was also obtained from the Irish government, the

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with Irish National Ballet accompanied by the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra, conducted by

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among them an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland in 1979.

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in the Gregg Hall and Windsor School. During the 1930s she took part in the Cork

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created a new dance school (Cork School of Dance) after Breda's death in 2009.

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Ruth Fleischmann: "The Arts Council and Irish National Ballet 1985–89", in:

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with extracts from classical ballets, contemporary works and folk ballets.

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Dreams and Responsibilities: The State and the Arts in Independent Ireland

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Dreams and Responsibilities: The State and the Arts in Independent Ireland

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Aideen Rynne: "Joan Moriarty's Early Years", in: Ruth Fleischmann (Ed.):

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Geoffrey Davidson: "Irish Theatre Ballet", in: Ruth Fleischmann (ed.):

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Aloys Fleischmann: "The Ballet in Cork", in: Ruth Fleischmann (Ed.):

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In the autumn of 1933, she returned with her family to their native

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Monica Gavin: "The Folk Dance Group", in: Ruth Fleischmann (ed.):

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Breda Quinn: "The Schools of Ballet", in: Ruth Fleischmann (ed.):

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Moriarty founded this group in 1957. It participated in the Cork

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Moriarty commissioned new music for many of her Irish ballets.

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1985 the Council commissioned the distinguished dance expert

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2012: Moriarty centenary celebrations under the auspices of

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See Declan Hassett, "Tribute to the First Lady of Dance",

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provided scenarios and music, the latter performed by his

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17–19 November 2011, Cork Opera House: Cork City Ballet,

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1993, Firkin Crane, Cork: Sculpture of Moriarty unveiled

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From 1970 to 1973 it had very successful appearances in

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1932 Dublin: Highly commended for solo war pipes at the

877:"The Moriarty School of Dance > Cork City Libraries" 160:, where her grandfather John Moriarty was a successful 1036: