Ballet is unique in the Arts world because it has a natural stake holder presence in ever city, town and village in the local ballet school(s).  In some cases these schools can have up to 500 students across multiple locations at any one time.  Some cities in Ireland have multiple schools.

Monica Loughman Ballet has always experienced overwhelming support from local ballet communities.  From the 2010 auditions in Galway where 70 people turned up lining the outside of the local hotel patiently for their turn to audition to the spontaneous support from Waterford and Wexford schools in April 2012 during the La Sylphide tour where dozens of local students turned up to take part in afternoon class and preparations for the evening event.  Here is an amateur video capturing students on all three tiers of the Theatre Royal (click here to see video).  In fact, the ballet mistress advertised the opportunity and immediately had more than 70 students wanting to take part and had to select a small number to take part in class with others observing and so on.  This all adds up to an extraordinary groundswell of support for the work of Monica Loughman for classical ballet in Ireland and the potential for talented students from all over Ireland to join Monica Loughman Ballet and be part of its major productions.

The stated goal of The Bridge Programme is to work with local ballet schools so that every ballet student in Ireland understands the path from their current level of ballet at their local school to performing with Monica Loughman Ballet in main-scale productions in major venues across Ireland.  This includes information about the company, its auditions and how and where rehearsal happen.

The Bridge Programme also represents a growing network of local support for touring activities of the company.  With local support from teachers and students alike the job of publicizing events when the Company visits receives a natural and highly significant boost. It is critical to the success of such activities and helps both broaden the audience for main-scale classical ballet as well as providing opportunities for local ballet schools to share the limelight and secure some important publicity for their important work.

If you are a local teacher and want to ask more about the Bridge Programme, please contact us.  Likewise if you are a student and have any questions about the Company, its auditions or anything else, do not hesitate to drop us a line.