Waiting for a glass slipper

Ballet Ireland has had a Cinderella story of its own, often waiting for a fairy godmother to swoop down, but its next production may yet bring it to the ball, writes CHRISTIE TAYLOR SEAVER

LESS THAN 10 years ago, when Ballet Ireland dancers arrived for rehearsals, they would first roll out their own floor. The old, weather-beaten surface at the Archbishop Byrne Hall on Synge Street turned the dancers’ shoes into mush and hurt their ankles, so to eliminate dangerous slips, the company put down its own padding. But even accessing the cold, damp space took negotiations: actors from the Gaiety and performers from travelling panto shows would also scout out the hall as the city’s largest and most promising rehearsal venue.

So when DanceHouse on Foley Street opened nearly three years ago, Ballet Ireland swiftly moved in to the building’s state-of-the-art rehearsal studios, and began taking advantage of the perks.

Locker space, lounge areas and hot cups of coffee in the lobby led the company not only into a brighter rehearsal venue but also a happier place. Now, for the first time, Ballet Ireland directors no longer worry about bringing in space heaters to keep the dancers warm, or hiring buses to ferry them to faraway locations when inner-city rehearsal venues are booked.

DanceHouse's resources – from TVs for reviewing choreography to spaces for sewing costumes – also allow Ballet Ireland to attract choreographers of international calibre. The latest arrival is Michael Corder, whose non-narrative Lyric Suitepremieres this weekend.

“I’ve wanted to do this for years – to bring in a big choreographer of international standard,” says Ballet Ireland director Anne Maher. “The considerations were the ballets that might be feasible, scheduling and space. Until this building, there was no way I could have brought in someone of Michael’s standard. I couldn’t bring them in to our old rehearsal space and say, ‘I’m terribly sorry but this is how we have to rehearse here’.”

Corder trained at the Royal Ballet School in London, joined the Royal Ballet and for more than 20 years has choreographed for some of the largest ballet companies in the world. During his career he also worked with some of choreographic greats, such as Kenneth Macmillan and Frederick Ashton.

Lyric Suiteis a demanding, high-energy six-part dance set to music by Grieg. To herald its arrival in Ireland, Corder choreographed an extra movement for the 22-minute dance.

“The dancers have worked terribly hard, and I’ve been quite pleased,” Corder says. He laments, however, how Ballet Ireland dancers come together for such a short time. After this production premieres and travels throughout Ireland and the UK in November, the 14-member troupe disperses until at least the new year. Maher agrees. “It’s awful to have the dancers here and see their talent, yet know that they will disband when this is done,” she says. “But right now I can’t afford to mount a production in the spring to keep them here, and dancers have to eat.”

THIS YEAR MARKS dancer Amy Drew’s seventh season with Ballet Ireland, and she says working with Corder has helped build a more cohesive atmosphere in the studio, as well as improve the dancers’ technique in a short span of time. She still admits to feeling anxious before working with him. “I didn’t know what to expect. He’s very disciplined, but also very encouraging and helpful. It’s amazing the way he hears music.”

Corder says music drew him into dance in the first place, and that he became mesmerised with it after watching his first panto around the age of four.

“I asked to take ballet lessons, and my father was against it for the usual reasons,” he says. “I was told if I went to ballroom dancing I could do ballet dancing. That lasted three weeks.”

From then on he embraced ballet, and has built a career staying true to ballet’s classical roots while taking it in a forward-thinking direction. He encourages aspiring choreographers, and it shows in how he’s approaching his latest appointment as director of dance at the UK’s National Ballet School.

“I’m starting a system through Naxos where the school is paying so students can download music onto their iPods and CDs,” Corder says. “This way they can start to explore and I want to encourage that. I never studied music until later, but when I saw a ballet, I wanted to hear the entire score. I used to check them out of the library and listen to them over and over.”

Anne Maher has done her part encouraging young choreographers, in particular Morgann Runacre-Temple, whose ambitious new version of Cinderellapremieres on the same programme as Corder's Lyric Suite. Runacre-Temple's Cinderellabegins long after the ball, when Cinderella and the Prince have run into marital problems. Humour infuses her interpretation, including a mouse that never quite turned back into himself and a boozy prince who bankrupts his kingdom.

This programme mixes Corder’s classical choreography with a new work from one of England’s young talents. It’s a line-up most ballet lovers would enjoy, yet Maher cannot say whether Ballet Ireland will be able to do it again.

“If I look at the most difficult climate we’ve ever been in, and see the best dancers we’ve ever had, I realise dancers will go where there’s someone who inspires them, like Michael Corder,” Maher says.

“I know arguing for money for the arts when people are lying on trolleys is a difficult thing to do . . . but I believe we have to look out for the soul of the nation as well as the health of the nation.”

In the meantime, fairy godmother, anyone?

Ballet Ireland presents Lyric Suiteand Cinderellaat the National Concert Hall on October 24th and 25th, and continues touring in Irelandand the UK. ballet-ireland.com