Creative Company darach9 will next weekend present’ A Day with Joanna’ as the legendary Joanna Banks ballet master joins the company on a visit to Belfast on Sunday 1 December 2024.
Dublin based Joanna who has trained and performed at the highest levels in ballet and danced the world over, will bring attendees on a journey of her dance career and life travelling the world to perform from her personal perspective. A renowned dancer, Joanna will spend the afternoon in the MAC in Belfast sharing stories of her experiences creating artistry in Ireland and dancing and curating around the globe. During the afternoon Joanna will undertake a Ballet Masterclass which has already sold out.
In conversation with Joanna, attendees will be taken on a journey from a dancer’s perspective hosted by with Professor Aoife McGrath. London-born Joanna trained at The Royal Ballet School, and subsequently joined The Royal Ballet upon graduation. From here Joanna went on to perform with Rambert, Bavarian State Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada, Bayerisches Staatsballett Munich and Irish National Ballet performing both soloist and principal roles. Joanna was also Artistic Director and Senior Ballet teacher at the College of Dance for 25 years.
Speaking to Aoife, Joanna will share her experiences of the dynamic dance history of our island, right up to where she founded Dance Ireland, and has continued to perform with Irish Modern Dance Theatre, United Fall, Dead Centre Theatre Company and most recently Company Phillip Connaughton in “Trojans”. Only last month Joanna was performing Lippy, the award-winning story of an aunt and three sisters from Dublin who enter into a suicide pact lasting 40 days, in Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest. Joanna will focus on the amazing longevity of her dance profession, which included dancing in the Grand Opera House in Belfast with the Royal Ballet in 1956 and again in 1958, in a career which has spanned over 8 decades.
Commenting ahead of Joanna’s visit to Belfast, Clare Novaes, Founder of darach9 Creative Company, says;
“We are honoured to have Joanna Banks here, to speak with Professor Aoife McGrath, and it’s thrilling and not surprising that our earlier Dance Masterclass with Joanna is sold out. Joanna’s extensive experience connects us with a lineage of ballet masters like Marie Rambert, Eileen Ward, and Alicia Markova. Living in Ireland, she continues to be integral to the progress of dance here. She is a founding member of Dance Ireland and set up The College of Dance which she ran for 25 years. In this pivotal role, Joanna inspires the next generations of dancers, dance leaders and educators.
In her chat with Aoife, Joanna will share her extensive experience discussing how the ballet taught today has been shaped. We are thrilled to have her visit and know it will be a really insightful and enriching day for everyone who has ever danced, or who simply loves ballet to attend and join the company of this fabulous woman. We are really honoured to welcome Joanna to Belfast and are grateful to Creative Catalyst and Innovate UK for their support,” Clare added.
This event launches Darach9, a new creative company based in Northern Ireland providing masterclasses for dancers and actors, and is supported by Creative Catalyst and Innovate UK.