A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

2018 was a very busy year for Ballet Ireland. Under our new Chair Gerardine Connolly SC, we have seen the board grow further with the welcome addition of Geraldine O'Loane. Geraldine is the founder of an award winning recruitment agency in Dublin. She is a graduate of Queens University Belfast and we warmly welcome her to the organisation. The Board also launched our first ever Fundraising Luncheon at the Merrion Hotel which was a huge success. Fundraising now forms a very important element in developing other income streams for the company.

We were thrilled to be invited to take our production of Giselle to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2018. Created for the company in 2017 by Ludovic Ondiviela, the invitation was a very exciting first for the company. The production received great reviews and the entire run sold out. We followed this with two periods of Research and Development. The first with Marguerite Donlon, internationally acclaimed Irish choreographer. This culminated in a sharing of the work for Culture Night when we had close to 100 people join us for the evening. The second R&D period was with Emma Martin. Emma has choreographed for a broad range of companies following her retirement as a ballet dancer. These include the Abbey Theatre, The Gate Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. This was our second year working with Emma to develop a work in the future for BI. We finished the year with a sold-out run of our ever popular production of The Nutcracker which toured nationwide.

Our educational activities are an extremely important part of the company's activities. Under the watchful eye of Education Officer, Stephen Brennan, we continue to grow our schools programme, our Summer Workshop programme and other individual master classes and workshops.

In common with many businesses today, one of our challenges is the retention of staff. As a modestly funded arts organisation, our difficulty is we are unable to offer full-time contracts and therefore retaining a core ensemble of dancers can be very challenging. This is a particular problem where embodiment of knowledge, repertoire and style is our wealth. However, in 2018 we were able to offer dancers continued work from July right through until the year end and indeed into the Spring of 2019. We hope to be able to build on this into the future as we seek to extend the length of dancer contracts.

Ballet is an expensive business but the Board of Ballet Ireland continues to encourage and support our development and investment in new work. I thank them for their unfailing support. Most particularly my thanks go to Chair Gerardine Connolly for her incredible drive and passion and commitment to the cause of Ballet Ireland. I am delighted to be able to report that in 2018 our financial position is sustainable, our risks are contained and our operations are fit for purpose. We maintain strong partnerships, encourage creativity and innovation and we are excited to embark on another year of artistic growth and organisational improvement.

ANNE MAHER BALLET IRELAND, DIRECTOR

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 2 0 1 8 T H E Y E A R I N R E V I E W

In 2018, Ballet Ireland was delighted to be celebrating 20 years.

The company continued to tour its productions to large-scale theatres in Dublin and regional theatres throughout Ireland, North and South. Giving our audiences across the country the opportunity to access, enjoy and be inspired by professional ballet.

Ballet Ireland is a champion of cultivating future talent and during the school year, the company’s Education Officer worked with Primary Schools throughout Dublin, enhancing the current school curriculum and enabling pupils to experience new opportunities in order to widen their artistic exposure.

Last summer, the company had its first ever appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where we completely sold-out our run of 15 performances of our acclaimed production Giselle. Our thanks to Culture Ireland for making the trip possible and we look forward to returning to Edinburgh in the future.

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 2 FUNDRAISING LUNCHEON

Summary

On Friday 27th April 2018, we held our first ever Fundraising Luncheon at the Merrion, Dublin. This philanthropic occasion was launched to raise vital funds for Ballet Ireland, and also offered guests an opportunity to celebrate the Company on the occasion of our twentieth anniversary, its extraordinary dancers, and all the generous patrons who support the Ballet.

We were delighted with the response, especially with all tickets being sold out within the first five days of release. Our guest of honour, Professor Marie Cassidy, gave a rousing and witty speech which held the room in delight. A magnificent raffle was held with prizes which included, among others, a Paul Sheeran diamond pendant, a Perry Ogden limited print and Paula Rowan leather gloves for each table.

All proceeds went towards main stage performances, community outreach and education programmes.

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 3 N U M B E R S : We managed to raise €15,524

P R E S S :

““Professor Cassidy was the ideal speaker, according to the organisation’s chair, Gerardine Connolly SC, who introduced the pathologist as a “true Hitchcock heroine” with an image that is “cool, striking and detached” The Irish Times

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 4 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2018 GISELLE Summary

In August 2018, we were invited to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at Dance Base. This was the first time a full-length ballet had ever been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe. Over a thousand people saw the production during the 15 date run. Ludovic Ondiviela's re-interpretation of this classic ballet captured the hearts and minds of the Festival audience.

TOUR DATES: Dance Base, Edinburgh: Friday 3rd - Sunday 19th August

CREATIVE TEAM: Choreography: Ludovic Ondiviela Design: Maree Kearns Lighting: Eoin Lennon based on an original design by Paul Keogan Music: Adolphe Adam Additional composition and sound design: Tom Lane and Rob Moloney

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 5 AUDIENCE NUMBERS: The Edinburgh Festival tour was seen by 1,080 audience members.

R E V I E W S :

**** 4 stars: “Full-blooded re-imagining staged with zeal.” Anna Winter, The Stage

**** 4 stars: “...there are some really stand out moments that will be enjoyed by audiences, I am sure, for a long time.” Imogen Rowe, EdinburghGuide.com

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 6 CULTURE NIGHT 2018 Summary

On Friday 21st September, Ballet Ireland partnered with Dance Ireland for Culture Night 2018. This was a free event where members of the public were invited into the rehearsal studio to see our dancers rehearse a section of choreography by world-renowned Irish choreographer, Marguerite Donlon. Known for her humour and profound creativity, her work thrills an unusually broad audience. With stylistic innovation, Irish wit and the combination of different art forms, she has pushed artistic limits to secure a place in the international dance scene. This was a great opportunity to see the company up-close and personal ahead of our Nutcracker season.

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 7 NEW MOVEMENTS: EMMA MARTIN Summary

Following an inspiring and fruitful initial movement research period with members of Ballet Ireland in Spring 2017, Emma Martin returned to work with the company for 2 weeks in Sept/Oct 2018 developing choreography to baroque composer Jean Philippe Rameau. Rameau's music is known for it's complexity, and strains of folk-dance inspired harmonies. Emma worked with the dancers on a series of movement vignettes, inspired by the narrative themes from the various opera-ballets for which they were written. This culminated in a public showing on Friday 5th October, 2018.

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 8 EDUCATION PROGRAMMES Primary Schools

Summary

We continued to develop and promote our schools programme throughout 2018. Our strategy has evolved in close collaboration with schools in the Dublin area. Our series of workshops, whereby children join us in class and rehearsal, has proved an extremely successful route through which to expose young people to dance. In addition to the classes in their schools, children took part in workshops at DanceHouse before meeting the company and observing rehearsals.

SCHOOLS: Our Education Officer worked with students in St. Patrick’s JNS Corduff, St. Patrick’s NS Diswellstown, Scoil Mhuire JNS Blakestown, St. Catherine’s JNS Cabra & St. Attracta's NS, Dundrum.

PARTICIPATION NUMBERS: 4,980 students took part in the programme with 232 workshops taking place on school premises.

"The idea is not to set out to create ballet dancers. It’s about teaching children how to move and use your body to express something – to show them the potential of their body. Hopefully ballet will stay with them and they will know it is not just something for the elite but something that can enhance their life." Stephen Brennan - Education Officer

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 9 EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

Summer Schools

Summary

Our summer school programme continued throughout July and August 2018. We increased our focus on attracting a larger uptake of places from a younger age group, in particular those aged between 6 and 9 years; in recent years the programme has proved increasingly popular with older students, many repeating year on year.

PARTICIPATING THEATRES: Glór, Ennis; The Civic Theatre, Tallaght; An Grianán, Letterkenny; The Burnavon, Cookstown.

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS: 2,463 young pupils participated.

TESTIMONIALS: "As a parent I was amazed that so much could be accomplished in only a few days. The final performance looked like something that was rehearsed for weeks." "My son has been dancing for a couple of years. We attend all of Ballet Ireland’s productions and he is delighted to be dancing on stage with dancers he has seen on stage."

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 0 THE NUTCRACKER

Summary

In Autumn 2018, Ballet Ireland remounted its production of The Nutcracker. This audience favourite was extra special this season because we were delighted to be celebrating 20 years. It seems hard to believe that it has been two decades since we gave our very first performance at the Gaiety Theatre on September 29th, 1998.

TOUR DATES:

Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey Wed 31 Oct & Draíocht, Blanchardstown Tues 27 & Wed 28 Nov Thurs 1 Nov National Opera House, Wexford Fri 30 Nov Millennium Forum Theatre, Derry Fri 2 Nov Source Arts Centre, Thurles Sat 1 Dec Market Place Theatre, Armagh Sat 3 Nov Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise Tue 4 & Wed 5 Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny Tue 6 Nov Dec An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny Fri 9 Nov Civic Theatre, Tallaght Thu 6 - Sat 8 Dec Burnavon Arts Centre, Cookstown Sat 10 Nov glór, Ennis Tue 11 & Wed 12 Dec Gaiety Theatre, Dublin Wed 14 - Sat 17 Nov Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick Fri 14 & Sat 15 Dec Siamsa Tíre, Tralee Sun 16 Dec Town Hall Theatre, Galway Mon 19 & Tue 20 Nov Solstice Arts Centre, Navan Wed 19 & Thu 20 Dec Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo Thur 22 Nov Visual Theatre, Carlow Fri 21 Dec Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen Fri 23 Nov Backstage Theatre, Longford Sat 24 & Sun 25 Nov Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray Sat 22 & Sun 23 Dec

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 1 AUDIENCE NUMBERS: The Autumn tour was seen by 15,608 audience members.

REVIEWS: **** 4 stars “Rich in colour, artistry and grace... this production shows all the signs of an ensemble working together as an integrated team.” Michael Moffatt, Irish Mail on Sunday

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 2 SOLOMON GALLERY EVENT

Ballet Ireland was delighted to invite guests to our Gala Performance of the Nutcracker on November 15th 2018. This social and philanthropic evening began with an elegant cocktail reception at the Solomon Gallery. This was followed by the performance at the Gaiety Theatre.

The evening concluded with a wine reception in the Gaiety where patrons had the opportunity to meet the creative team and dancers.

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 3 LULULEMON & M.A.C. COSMETICS

Ballet Ireland was grateful to collaborate with both Lululemon Dublin and M.A.C. Cosmetics for our Autumn season.

Lululemon treated Ballet Ireland's dancers to a yoga class, a sound bath, and lululemon's new collection designed in collaboration with Francesca Hayward, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet.

M.A.C. Cosmetics became a Ballet Ireland 2018/19 season sponsor and official supplier of stage make-up. The dancers also took part in a workshop with M.A.C. Senior Make-Up Artist, Lesley Keane.

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 4 2018 REPERTORY SEASON NUMBERS

16,688 people attended a Ballet Ireland performance 52 performances were given 27 venues presented the work of Ballet Ireland 70,000 pieces of print material produced to promote the company's work 27 professional dancers hired 612 application requests were received to audition 7,443 students took part in workshops 232 workshops 4 venues hosted summer schools 10,476 social media followers 4,153 newsletter subscribers 48,000 website visitors €300,000 value of PR reach achieved

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 5 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2018

Balance Sheet 31/12/2018 31/12/2017

Members Funds €62,744 (€74,333)

Income & Expenditure

Income €845,996 €663,432 Operating costs €708,904 €739,976

Interest €15 €44

Net surplus / (deficit) €137,077 (€76,588)

Key financial facts

Touring & Box Office revenue €382,391 Donations & Sponsorship revenue €108,828 Arts Council funding €330,000 Cost of touring & production €196,775 Marketing & Promotion €133,836 Salaries & Social Welfare costs €327,717

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 6 KEY STATISTICS

Audience figures 2015-2018 Misc. performances Spring season Autumn season

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0 2015 2016 2017 2018

Education Programme participants 2015-2018

Outreach Summer schools Primary schools

10,000

7,500

5,000

2,500

0 2015 2016 2017 2018

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 7 KEY STATISTICS

Income sources 2015-2018 Where our money comes from Workshop income Sponsorship Box Office Arts Council €1,000,000

€750,000

€500,000

€250,000

€0 2015 2016 2017 2018

Expenditure 2018 What we spend our money on

Administration 4.2% Touring 9.4%

Salaries & Social Welfare Advertising 46.2% 18.9%

Fundraising 1.06%

Production Depreciation 0.73% 19.5%

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 8 STATEMENT FROM OUR CHAIR

It continues to be an honour to serve as Chair of the Board of Ballet Ireland. We have had an enormously successful year and we move forward with a combination of confidence and prudent caution.

As we reflect on our Strategic Plan, we feel proud to confirm that we have achieved our targets as the Company continues to go from strength to strength.

2018 reflects a successful season of presenting cutting edge work while maintaining respect for the more traditional classics. Box office receipts were strong, critical reviews highly supportive.

We were invited to perform Giselle at the Edinburgh Festival and did so to sold-out houses with strong international critical acclaim.

Last year saw the Company continuing to grow our brand and extending our audience base in order to achieve our ambitious creative goals. We have successfully achieved collaborative partnerships and developed corporate support. We have also successfully developed our fundraising campaigns and we are financially robust.

As an ambitious and growing Company we support but also challenge each other and continue to take calculated risks in order to pursue our targets.

We owe deep gratitude to our extraordinary dancers who put their heart and soul into their work. It is this deep passion that gives us the foundation to go on to pursue our creative vision for the company. We must also acknowledge the exceptional dedication of our Artistic Director Ms Anne Maher who drives the vision of the Company with a mixture of bravery but sensible caution. Her tireless commitment to our mission propells the company forward in a positive direction.

Special thanks has to be extended to our deeply committed Board of Directors who work relentlessly in pursuit of the goals and successes of the company. Their oversight and dedication has played a huge role in the overall successes of Ballet Ireland. We remain deeply grateful to the loyal support of our main funders, the Arts Council. And we extend our thanks to our Donors.

Most importantly, we extend our appreciation to everyone who has lent their energies to Ballet Ireland which has infused the Company with such passion and has enabled us to expand and develop our mission and vision.

Finally our thanks and sense of indebtedness goes to our audience, who make us who we are.

There is much to anticipate in the forthcoming season as we continue to flourish and grow. We are witnessing a company that is providing cultural excellence in Ireland but more significantly, on an international stage.

Of this we can be proud.

GERARDINE CONNOLLY SC BALLET IRELAND, CHAIR

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 1 9 BOARD OF DIRECTORS & MANAGEMENT

BALLET IRELAND’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVES IS COMMITTED TO MAINTAINING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF GOVERNANCE. BALLET IRELAND IS COMPLIANT WITH THE GOVERNANCE CODE AS A TYPE C ORGANISATION AND WEBSITE COMPLIANT TO STANDARD A ON THE GOVERNANCE TRANSPARENCY SCALE.

AS AN ORGANISATION WITH CHARITABLE STATUS UNDER THE CHARITIES ACT 2009, BALLET IRELAND AIMS TO COMPLY WITH THE STATEMENT OF GUIDING PRINCIPLE FOR FUNDRAISING DRAWN UP TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ACT.

The board’s functions are to oversee the organisation’s mission, ensuring proper financial management and maintaining good governance.

In 2018, meetings were held in January, March, April, May, June, July, August, October & December.

The work of the board is supported by two sub-committees:

Finance Committee - Chair Eilis Quinlan, Paul Johnson, Una O'Hare In 2018, meetings were held in January, May, June, August, October & November.

Governance Committee - Chair Louise Carpendale, Gerardine Connolly In 2018, meetings were held in July & October.

The board of directors is a non-executive board, encompassing skills and expertise in dance, marketing, fundraising, legal and financial affairs. We maintain up-to-date Directors’ profiles on our website: www.balletireland.ie/governance/boardofdirectors. Directors are co-opted and endorsed by the board.

PATRON P resident: Michael D. Higgins

B OARD OF DIRECTORS Gerardine Connolly (Chair) Louise Carpendale (Secretary) STAFF Anne Marie Barton Director: Anne Maher Paul Johnson General Manager: Martin Lindinger Heather Kennedy Education Officer: Stephen Brennan Una O’Hare Geraldine O'Loane PRESS CONSULTANT Eilis Quinlan Caroline Kennedy PR

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 2 0 CULTURAL PARTNERS & FUNDERS

SUPPORT FROM OUR FUNDING BODIES, MEDIA SPONSORS AND PATRONS, ALLOW US TO BRING PRODUCTIONS OF THE HIGHEST INTERNATIONAL QUALITY TO AUDIENCES THROUGHOUT IRELAND.

MAIN FUNDER

MEDIA PARTNERS

DONOR Billy Gaff

CORPORATE SPONSORS Four Star Pizza fourstarpizza.ie Glanbia glanbia.com Hayes Solicitors hayes-solicitors.ie KingramRed kingramred.com M.A.C. Cosmetics maccosmetics.co.uk Mink Hand & Foot Spa mink.ie Pandora pandora.ie Reddy Architecture + Urbanism reddyarchitecture.com Dr Rita Rakus & Mr Kambiz Golchin ritarakus.com, beaconfaceanddermatology

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 2 1 FRIENDS

DIAMOND FRIENDS John Healy enfieldcoaches.ie Jane O’Callaghan

RUBY FRIENDS Chad Gilmer iPLANiT

EMERALD FRIENDS Debbie Allen, Debbie Allen School of Dance Honorable Mr. Justice Barton & Anne Marie Barton Olive Braiden Deirdre Brennan, The Peelo School of Dance Rachel Goode, The Goode School of Dance Azile Hooper John Horgan Hanna Kivelä Eamonn McCusker Marie Moloney Miriam O’Callaghan Cynthia Ó Dúnlaing F.R.A.D. John & Sarah Sheehy Aideen Stevens Brian Walsh Bonnie Ward Mariad Whiskar

SAPPHIRE FRIENDS Rose and Sara Chester Sadhbh Ó Dúnlaing, Bray Dance Academy Clione Hickey Kristina Wladimirowna Mastel Ingrid Nachstern, Night Star Dance Company Dara Pierce, The Ballet Academy

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: BALLET IRELAND, DECLAN ENGLISH, ANNA LOUISE & MARK STEADMAN

B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 P A G E 2 2 B A L L E T I R E L A N D | A G H E R | S U M M E R H I L L | C O M E A T H | A 8 3 W K 7 0 T E L : + 3 5 3 4 6 9 5 5 7 5 8 5 | E M A I L : I N F O @ B A L L E T I R E L A N D . I E | W E B : B A L L E T I R E L A N D . I E R E G I S T E R E D T R A D E M A R K 2 5 3 4 6 3 | C H A R I T Y N O . C H Y 1 3 3 1 0 | C O M P A N Y N U M B E R : 2 5 4 7 4 4