Our Team
SINEAD MURPHY - PRINCIPAL
Sinéad trained at the renowned Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance and Cork Ballet Company. She began her teacher training under the guidance and direction of the late Miss Moriarty.
Sinéad completed her initial ISTD teaching qualifications at Merseyside Dance and Drama Centre under the direction of Gaynor Owen and furthered her qualifications at The Royal Academy of Dance. Sinéad advanced her teaching qualifications by travelling to the UK on a regular basis to upskill and learn from highly reputable teachers and subsequently was awarded the Fellowship of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing.
Sinéad taught at the Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance for 22 years and also taught at the Kerry School of Music. Sinead founded Cork School of Dance in 2009 in Firkin Crane, the home of dance in Cork.
Sinéad was appointed an Imperial Ballet Examiner in 1999 and has examined and taught in the UK, Mexico, Canada, United States and throughout Europe. Sinéad has coached several students who were prize winners and overall winners at the Imperial Ballet Awards in the UK and has taught and adjudicated several times at these awards.
Sinéad has danced in many Cork Ballet Company productions and IORC and Opera 2005 operas and musicals. Sinéad choreographs CSD’s annual acclaimed Christmas production as well as the annual school showcase.
Sinéad is the Artistic Director of Cork Youth Ballet Company, also based in Firkin Crane, since it was founded in 2015. Sinéad has worked with international guest choreographers for the CYBC productions and has collaborated with Presidio Dance Theatre from San Francisco.
Sinéad is the children’s coach for Cork City Ballet has had the joy of seeing her students dance on stage with internationally acclaimed dancers in CCB’s productions. Sinéad is a founding member and Vice Chair of the Irish ballet Teacher’s Association ( IBTA ). She is a guest teacher, choreographer and exam coach in several schools throughout the country.
LINDSAY O’LEARY
Lindsay trained at the University of Limerick where she graduated with a 1 st class honours degree in BA Voice and Dance. Here she specialised in contemporary dance exploring release technique,, gained experience in choreography, somatic movement, aerial dance, and flamenco. Lindsay has worked with companies such as Iseli-Chiodi Dance Company, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, CoisCéim Dance Theatre and Liz Roach Company. She has performed at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Dance Limerick, Tipperary Dance Platform and Cork Opera House. Lindsay has also worked abroad teaching dance classes across Europe to broaden her knowledge and skills which she has been able to incorporate when returning to teach in Ireland. She is currently working on her Diploma in Dance Education in Imperial Classical Ballet and Modern Theatre. In addition to 7 years’ experience, Lindsay’s passion for teaching and a keen interest in working with children has assisted her in building a strong foundation for her career as a dance teacher.
Susie began dancing at the age of 3 with Ballet Theatre Ireland and then joined Cork School of Dance where she completed her Imperial Classical Ballet Vocational Exams. She was a member of the Irish National Youth Ballet Company for 2 years and has been a member of Cork Youth Ballet Company since its founding in 2015. She has performed as a Student Apprentice Dancer with Cork City Ballet Company in the Corps de Ballet in Swan Lake in 2015 and 2019 and in Sleeping Beauty in 2017.
She has travelled to St Petersburg, Russia with Monica Loughman to train, to International Ballet of Houston, Texas (on scholarship) and has attended Summer intensives at Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham , Bristol Russian Ballet School, as well as Central School of Ballet Easter Intensives and also received a scholarship to Institute of the Arts Barcelona Summer Intensive. She is a qualified Fitness & Group Instructor and Personal Trainer, a qualified Progressing Ballet Technique teacher. In addition, Susie is currently completing her Diploma in Dance Education studies in Imperial Classical Ballet and Modern Theatre.
PATRICIA CROSBIE
Born in Cork, Patricia Crosbie was a member of Irish National Ballet Company for 6 years, dancing leading roles in many of the classics, including Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Cinderella. She has worked with internationally renowned choreographers including Sir Anton Dolin, Peter Darrell, Hans Brena, Nils Christie, Brenda Last, Domy Reiter-Soffer, Royston Maldoom, and Yury Demakov. Patricia was a principle with London Ballet Theatre and Vienna Festival Ballet. She toured worldwide with the renowned rock band, The Kinks, choreographing and performing in their concerts.
Patricia taught ballet, pointe work, classical repertoire and jazz ballet on the Diploma in Dance course at Cork’s College of Further Education (CSN) for 12 years. Patricia is now Ballet Mistress with Cork City Ballet for whom she has choreographed many ballets, including her critically acclaimed, full-length, ballet of J M Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World. She has conducted workshops and Masterclasses for Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick, Irish National Youth Ballet, Cork Youth Ballet, Cork School of Dance and Plan Be among others. Patricia was awarded her MA in Dance from UL in 2011.
In 2012 she contributed to Dr. Ruth Fleischmann’s book Joan Denise Moriarty: Ireland’s First Lady of Dance and choreographed for the documentary We Are Moving: Memories of Miss Moriarty (Dublin Film Festival 2016). Patricia was Dance Ireland’s Associate Artist for 2015/2016 when she choreographed her ballet Journey Through the Mirror. Patricia is Ballet Tutor on the MA and BA Dance courses at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick and has served as Director on the Firkin Crane Theatre and Dance Centre, Cork since 2012.
INMA PAVON (GUEST TEACHER)
Inma Pavon trained in ballet and contemporary dance. She received a First Class Honour in the MA in Contemporary Dance Performance from the University of Limerick in 2003. She later received an MPhil from UCC (2015-2017). She was selected for the ICNWP’07 (Irish Choreographers New Work Platform 2007) under the mentorship of Wendy Houstoun (UK Choreographer). Also in 2007/08, she joined Daghdha Dance Company Mentoring Programme and received a Bursary Award by Dance Ireland/the Arts Council with which she was able to develop her choreographic ideas under the mentorship of Amanda Coogan. She was granted the “Blank Canvas”, “Inquiry” and “Spell It: Invisible Words” residencies at the Firkin Crane. Inma has danced with the Cork City Ballet, danced and choreographed with cruX Dance Theatre Company and REBUS Improvisation Dance Company, and in 2011-2012, she choreographed John O’Brien’s Dido and Aeneas, which premiered at Cork Opera House and then toured nationally. She has been guest teacher, choreographer at the CSN Dance Diploma, Cork School of Dance, and Cork Youth Ballet Company.
One of the highlights of her work in recent years has been her performances with renowned Irish Performance Artist Amanda Coogan at the Royal Hibernian Academy (Dublin) and at the UILLINN West Cork Arts Centre. She also facilitates art/movement workshops at The Glucksman Gallery in UCC. Inma continues her most recent collaborative project titled ‘Isolation’ in collaboration with Robert Monaghan. This project has been selected at LOOP Barcelona 2019 & 2020.