Cork School of Dance

Delighted Alan will be one of the teachers at Be Inspired: Back to Ballet in August.

Alan Foley, Founder and Artistic Director of Cork City Ballet, began his training with the renowned Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance and the Cork Ballet Company. Further training included the Harrison College of Dance and Drama in London, the Vaganova Ballet Academy Summer School in Russia in 1989, the Broadway Dance Centre in New York, and classes with many distinguished teachers and dancers in Pineapple Dance Studios in London.

He has choreographed and produced all of Cork City Ballet’s productions since 1992, including the hugely successful ‘Ballet Spectacular’ seasons, which have toured to all the major venues in Ireland. During that time, he has worked alongside some of the most illustrious dancers of our generation including Prima Ballerina Lucia Lacarra, Veronika Ivanova, Sofia Gumerova and Nikita Shcheglov from the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, Erina Takahashi and Elena Glurdjidze from English National Ballet, Ekaterina Bortyakova and Akzhol Mussakhanov from Moscow State Ballet and Marie Lindqvist and Jan-Erik Wikstrom from the Royal Swedish Ballet.

As a dancer, his energy and stage presence were consistently noted by the critics in many major classical ballets such as ‘Swan Lake’, ‘The Nutcracker’, ‘Don Quixote’, ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Le Corsaire’ and ‘La Bayadere’ among others.
In 1998, he was the first person in Ireland to be awarded the prestigious Fellowship Diploma in Classical Ballet (with distinction), of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in London.
Alan retired from the professional stage in May 2007 but continues his work as Artistic Director of Cork City Ballet and Principal of the Alan Foley Academy of Dance.

Recent work for Cork City Ballet includes a new production of ‘Swan Lake’, ‘Giselle’, The Nutcracker’ and ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ with Yury Demakov from the Bolshoi Ballet.

So pleased Aoibhinn Quirke is joining us once again for our Be Inspired: Back to Ballet Course in August.

Aoibhínn from Ballincollig, Cork graduated from London Studio Centre with a first-class honours degree in 2020, where she received the Gillian Lynne award for her overall achievement throughout her training in Jazz Dance.

Aoibhínn is a qualified dance teacher and member of the IDTA, ISTD, RAD and IBTA. She has taught and choreographed for various performing arts schools and universities across Cork, London and Sydney. She set up her own classes ‘Aspire with Aoibhínn’ in 2020 to promote the continuation of pre-professional/ professional dance training in Cork City.

Aoibhínn is a qualified personal trainer and is currently a coach with The Bulletproof Dancer, specialising in personal training and coaching for pre-professional and professional dancers.

Aoibhínn also graduated from Hibernia College with a Master’s in Primary School Education in 2023.

Some of Aoibhínn’s performing credits include, Dance Captain, Ensemble and Cover Jasmine, ‘Aladdin’ Cork Opera House, Dancer for the ‘Europa League Final’, Dancer for Disney’s ‘Disenchanted’, Dancer for ‘Vikings of Valhalla’ Netflix, Dance Captain and Ensemble ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ Cork Opera House, Featured Dancer ‘Walk Away’ Una Healy music video, Ensemble ‘Nanny Nellie’s Adventures in Pantoland’ Cork Opera House, Featured Dancer ‘Workout’ Alex Hoskings and DJ Craig Goodman music video.

Aoibhínn is so excited to be back teaching at the Be Inspired course this summer.

So pleased Molly Ward will be joining the teaching faculty once again for Be Inspired : Back to Ballet. The children and students are in for such a treat.
Can’t wait to have you with us.
Molly is from Mallow in County Cork, Ireland. She began her dance training at a young age with Cork School of Dance. After
school, Molly was awarded a full scholarship to continue her musical theatre training in London.
Training: Doreen Bird College, London.
Molly has recently completed two years performing in the Ballet Corps of Phantom of the Opera International Tour where she travelled all over Asia.
Credits:
Meg Giry cover and Ballet corps, Phantom of the Opera, Rainer Fried, LW Entertainment.
Dancer, Disenchanted (Disney Movie on Disney+), Adam Shankman,
2021.
Dance Captain, Andrew Lloyd Webber Gala European Tour, 2023.
Dance Captain, World Of Musicals Australia and New Zealand Tour,
2022.
Alice In Wonderland/Character Parade Performer, DISNEYLAND, PARIS, 2016.
Television:
Featured Dancer, JOHN LEWIS CHRISTAMAS ADVERT ‘PIANO MAN’, Adam and Eve DDB, 2018.
Leading lady for Gary Summer’s music video, 2019.
Molly featured on the cover of the PlayStation and Xbox game ‘We Sing’ for Nordic Games and Wired Productions, 2015.
Other Achievements:
Molly is a qualified Ballet and Modern dance teacher under the ISTD, 2020.
As a child Molly won 1st place and is a two time musicality award winner at the Imperial Classical Ballet Awards in London.

Thank you Golden Dance Awards. Such a gorgeous surprise. My heartfelt thanks to all our students and families, past and present, for your loyalty and support. Cork School of Dance would not be what it is today if it wasn’t for you all. Thank you for entrusting your children to us. It’s an honour and privilege. We had a great year in the school and have a great new school year planned. This is a lovely way to close out the school year and look forward to the year ahead. Thank you, I’m truly humbled

Delighted to welcome back Patricia Crosbie to our teaching team for Be Inspired, Back to Ballet 2026. Patricia is Ballet Mistress for Cork City Ballet and Cork Youth Ballet Company and brings a wealth of teaching and performance experience to the team, Booking is now open, contact Sinéad at [email protected] for further information

ISTD, Imperial Classical Ballet Awards…always a special event and occasion. Honoured as always to have been invited to teach a class at the Live UK Finals at Central School of Ballet today. This year’s International Awards were special too as our gorgeous Lily Barry received a Commendation in the Grade 5/6/Intermediate Foundation category. With entries across the world from Belgium, Canada, China, Guernsey, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, USA, and Vietnam this was a great achievement for Lily. Thank you ISTD and ICB for all the great opportunities for our students and teachers from all around the world. We truly are a global community.

We are back once again with our hugely successful Be Inspired- Back to Ballet Course.
Independently run, open to students from all schools, it is the perfect course to prepare for the new school year. 17th to 20th August 2026, Longyard Studios.
Faculty announcement soon.
Information from Sinéad Murphy, Principal Cork School of Dance, Artistic Director Cork Youth Ballet Company.
Dancer: Kailany Marcondes
Image Credit : PHOTOEIRE

Registration now open for September 2026. We are a small boutique style school providing dance education for all levels from Pre School to Advanced Level. Classes in classical ballet, modern, jazz and contemporary. We specialise in ballet training where every child and student is seen, heard, encouraged and supported. We thrive on our sense of community, non competitive and supportive environment and the bonds of friendships made to last. Dream Aspire, Achieve with us at Cork school of Dance