Talented Louth dancers selected for Irish National Youth Ballet’s Spring Quadruple Bill

Two young dancers from Louth have been chosen to be part of the Irish National Youth Ballet’s (INYB) Spring season. Grace Sweeney and Jasmine Kennedy will dance as members of the Senior level of the company. This Spring Season will be a quadruple bill of Paquita Excerpts, Les Patineurs, Schubert Impromptu and a new commission An Choill.

Irish National Youth Ballet (INYB) is the premier youth ballet company in Ireland. Funded by the Arts Council, the company aims to give the best young dancers in Ireland the opportunity to train with brilliant teachers and choreographers and to perform in exciting semi-professional productions throughout the year.

Many of its former members have gone on to professional training overseas. Irish National Youth Ballet is also supported by ‘Friends of the Company’ and RTÉ Supporting the Arts.

Grace will dance two soloist roles in Paquita as well as being featured in the newly commissioned An Choill. Jasmine who will also dance a solo role in Paquita in some shows and a duet in others was chosen to create the role of the Bird in An Choill by choreographer Nathan Cornwell.

This season will show Paquita excerpts, a ballet which was first choreographed in 1846, which shows the roots of classical ballet from the tutu to the pointe shoes. Travelling along the timeline to 1937 is Les Patineurs, a wonderful short, standalone piece depicting skaters on a frozen lake.

INYB has included Schubert Impromptu in its programme, originally choreographed by Charles Czarny for the Irish National Ballet in the 1970’s, now handed on to the Irish National Youth Ballet to keep the repertoire alive in the absence its originator.

An exciting new commission by Hamburg based choreographer Nathan Cornwell will finish the show this season. The piece entitled An Choill has been inspired by the Oscar Wilde poem The Forest and promises to be a spectacle of its own.

Announcing the Spring season performances, Artistic Director of Irish National Youth Ballet Lindsay Ashe-Browne, said: “We are thrilled to be performing once again in The Helix Theatre, as it is becoming our home venue, and to be performing a mixed bill which shows how ballet has developed through the ages.

"To dance with Irish National Youth Ballet, you really do need to be among the best dancing talent on the whole island. The performance level is akin to elite athletics. The audition process is strict and competitive, and our dancers are highly trained.

"For those who know nothing about ballet this company is the ballet equivalent to the under 20’s Irish rugby team! With less funding but the same level of commitment, talent and dedication.

“This May, audiences can look forward to a magical and unforgettable experience from the exceptionally talented young dancers who make up Spring season cast. They each have an unrelenting passion, commitment, and gift for ballet along with the dedication to travel to Dublin for eight hours of training every Saturday.

"Many of our dancers have gone on to become professional ballet dancers worldwide, which is a remarkable achievement given the level of competition. So, audiences really are in for a treat this May!

“We are very grateful for the support we receive from Arts Council Strategic Funding, ‘Friends of the Company’, RTÉ Supporting the Arts and Dance World who help us in our work to develop and promote the best of dance talent on the island of Ireland and in bringing it to audiences across the country.”Performance Times and Tickets

A matinee and evening performance will take place on each day as follows:

• Thursday, 18th May: matinee performance, 11.00am; evening performance, 7.30pm.
• Friday, 19th May: matinee performance, 11.00am; evening performance, 7.30pm.

Tickets for the Irish National Youth Ballet’s Spring Season Quadruple Bill at the Theatre, The Helix, Dublin 9, are now on sale at: https://thehelix.ie Ticket prices range from €10 - €25.