Past

The Irish Youth Russian Ballet Company was established in 2006 by Monica Loughman shortly after she left Perm State Ballet where she had danced for ten years and was the Company Principle and a Prima ballerina.  The company gave Irish ballet dancers the opportunity to advance by performing in a major show to the Irish public alongside stars from Russia.  As the Company’s success received more and more national recognition, auditions became more and more popular with dancers from all over Ireland.

Present

Monica Loughman Ballet was established in 2011 to leverage the Monica Loughman brand in staging productions and the fact that so many of the Coryphee s and Corps de Ballet were could no longer be described as “Youth”.   The Company has eight Irish soloists whose abilities rival those of soloists in any European ballet company and a roster of seventy dancers in the Corps.  Its has been a definitive launch pad for many professional Ballet careers.

In July 2011 in response to overwhelming demand from students and teachers from Ballet Schools across Ireland Monica set up The Bridge Programme to clarify how transition from School to Stage can happen.  The Program consists of workshops around Ireland with participating Schools led by Monica and several of the soloists.  Monica Loughman has also established a full-time professional academy of Russian Ballet where the students are an integral part of the company and its major productions and tours.

In 2012, Monica Loughman Ballet staged a main-scale classical ballet, La Sylphide, which it first performed in 2009 at The Helix in Dublin and The Town Hall Theatre, Galway, in Ireland’s largest and most prestigious venue.  The event was an incredible success and ground breaking history for Irish ballet.  The huge auditorium of the Convention Centre Dublin was almost full and the production featured two principles of the Mariinsky Theatre.  To view patron reviews of this production and others click here and to see the short high res video of La Sylphide click here.

Please click here for more information about Auditions

Future

Monica’s vision for where the company is that it will one day become a State or National entity and that it will employ professional dancers.  The event at Ireland’s Convention Centre and the formation of the full-time Academy are signs that this plan is destined to happen.  Professional Irish Ballerina’s will one day be able to live and work in Ireland in this entity.  Monica Loughman Ballet is not a company that sits waiting for funding in order to get things done!  But it is fortunate that so many of its plans and programmes are solidly aligned with the Arts Council of Ireland’s plans for dance in Ireland and that its sponsor since 2004 – ALLIANZ – keeps backing Monica year after year.