Monica Loughman is an Irish ballet dancer and teacher, writer, and television personality. She was the first Westerner to achieve solo status with the Perm State Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Russia, where she danced for 16 years. On her return to Ireland, she established a network of ballet schools. She was also featured on a television series, ''

Ballet Chancers ''Ballet Chancers'' was an Irish television programme broadcast on RTÉ One in late 2008. Featuring the ballerina, Monica Loughman, it began on 16 November 2008. In the show Loughman attempts to turn six streetwise hip hop dancers into elegant ...

'', and appeared in other TV shows such as '' The Panel'', ''

The Podge and Rodge Show ''The Podge and Rodge Show'' is a talk show, broadcast and produced by RTÉ. For the first three seasons Podge and Rodge were joined by Lucy Kennedy as a co-host but for the first half of the fourth season they were joined by guest hosts includi ...

'', ''

Tubridy Tonight ''Tubridy Tonight'' is a talk show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired on RTÉ One for five seasons between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews (usually three per show), audience participation and live music from both a guest mu ...

'' and '' The Late Late Show.'' She is co-author of a book about her experiences.

Life

Early life

Loughman is from Santry in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and attended Manor House School,

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 CE ( Mervyn Archdall). The district shares Dublin's two largest municipal parks, Saint Anne ...

Ballet career in Russia

Loughman left Ireland at the age of fourteen for Perm State Ballet in Russia, becoming one of the few

Westerners The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

to dance for the prestigious Perm State Theatre of Opera and Ballet. She trained and danced for the company for 16 years.

Ballet career in Ireland

Back in Ireland, Loughman established a full-time training programme for professional ballet dancers, as well as a network of ballet schools. She created a ballet company by training indigenous dancers and hiring the support of Russian ballet figures. Starting with ballet schools taking children from age four and upwards, she built, over ten years, a progression to a youth company (Irish Youth Russian Ballet) and then the Monica Loughman Elite Ballet, as featured in Dance Europe magazine. Her company is now Ireland's largest structure of ballet training schools, and performs The Nutcracker, Vivaldi Seasons, Giselle and La Sylphide, The Monica Loughman Elite Ballet is committed to staging classical "main scale" ballet throughout Ireland and nurturing a new generation of dancers, choreographers and audiences. In a milestone decision, the Irish Arts Council funded a tour of The Nutcracker to theatres throughout Ireland in 2013. Loughman currently trains dancers for professional careers in ballet, and for example, four young girls she trained were accepted for an apprenticeship with the Russian Ballet Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Media

On 21 September 2006, Loughman appeared on '' Dustin's Daily News''. Loughman appeared on the twenty-fourth episode of the third season of ''The Podge and Rodge Show'', alongside the celebrity solicitor

Gerald Kean Gerald Kean (born 1957) is an Irish solicitor from County Cork. He is regularly the subject of social columns, particularly in the Sunday newspapers which have reported his lavish spending sprees and sun holidays involving his wife and other peo ...

on 11 February 2007. On 15 February 2007, she appeared on youth chat programme, ''The Cafe'', alongside celebrity weatherman

Dáithí Ó Sé Dáithí Mícheál Ó Sé (; born 2 June 1976) is an Irish television presenter. He currently hosts RTÉ One's ''Today'', alongside Maura Derrane. He is also the current host of the Rose of Tralee and hosts a chat show on TG4 every Thursday nigh ...

and Luan Parle. On 17 February 2007, Loughman appeared on the primetime chat show, ''Tubridy Tonight'', alongside Bill O'Herlihy,

Fionnula Flanagan Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known fo ...

and The Waterboys. On 4 December 2008, Loughman resurrected her sequence of guest appearances when she appeared on '' The Panel'' alongside the journalist

Niall Stanage Niall Stanage (born 18 June 1974) is a Northern Irish journalist and associate editor of the American political newspaper, '' The Hill''. Biography Stanage was born in 1974 in Belfast, Northern Ireland and attended Carryduff Primary School and Me ...

. She also appeared on '' The Late Late Show''. In a 2008 television series,

, Loughman worked on training six young people, schooled in hip hop, to appreciate the art of ballet. In 2014 Loughman appeared in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series Big Ballet with Wayne Sleep, as she worked with a troupe of plus-size amateur dancers to realise their dream of dancing Swan Lake.

Publication

Loughman has co-written a book, ''The Irish Ballerina'', with

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

-based author, Jean Harrington, who helped the former Dublin prostitute Martina Keogh write her story in ''Survivor''. Published in 2004 by

Maverick House Publishers Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau ...

, the book discusses her childhood Russian experiences performing ballet. The book was reviewed in ''The Meath Chronicle'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and Loughman was interviewed for the magazine ''Woman's Way'' in December 2004. She has also appeared in various magazines and newspapers, including the ''

Meath Chronicle The ''Meath Chronicle'' is a local newspaper serving County Meath, Ireland and based in the town of Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30, ...

'', ''

The Sunday Business Post The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland. Founding to Irish financial crisi ...

'' and '' Woman's Way''

References

External links

''RTÉ Guide'' Interview with Loughman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loughman, Monica Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Irish women Dancers from Dublin (city) People educated at Manor House School, Raheny Irish ballerinas 21st-century Irish women Irish women writers Irish television personalities Living people Perm State Choreographic College alumni People from Santry