The fourth Ninette de Valois Festival of Dance will return to Blessington to celebrate Ninette de Valois, the Wicklow woman who established the UK Royal Ballet in 1931. Born in 1898 at Baltyboys House near Blessington, she moved to England in 1905 and later founded the Abbey School of Ballet in 1927, helping shape ballet in Ireland. The festival began in 2018, paused during Covid, returned in 2022, and now runs every two years, with a 2024 festival previously held. Performances take place in the Tramway Theatre on June 5 and include Irish dancing, ballet, hip-hop, modern dance, and ballroom dancing, with acts influenced by de Valois.
""All the performances will be influenced by Ninette de Valois. The first dance she was ever involved with was an Irish jig she learnt as a youngster from some of the staff at Baltyboys House. She was always keen to encourage people to dance the steps of other dances too, so we will have everything from ballet and traditional Irish dancing to Hip-Hop and modern dance.""
Read at Irish Independent
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