Anna Rose O'Sullivan 2025
Anna O'Sullivan
Principal, The Royal Ballet
Interviewed by David Bain
American International Church, Mon 13th Jan, 2025
Anna Rose began by saying she was currently rehearsing Onegin. It was good to revisit the role of Olga but this time with a new partner, Leo Dixon, as Lensky. Then, tomorrow, it would be Romeo and Juliet with Reece Clarke. She's very excited to portray that love story with a different partner and see something different in herself through dancing with somebody else. She absolutely loved dancing with Marcelino Sambé and it will be a change but welcome in that it's important to challenge yourself and not be too comfortable all the time. Leo is lovely, in fact all the partners in the Company are wonderful and she has a rapport with all of them in different ways. It's nice to work with different proportions which naturally makes you dance differently. With Marcelino, it's like family as they know each other so well and feel so comfortable. It will be exciting to figure herself out as Juliet with somebody new and it is a fresh story when meeting her Romeo for the first time. David mentioned that, when he talked to us recently, Marcelino was in raptures about dancing with Anna Rose who responded by saying the feeling was mutual! She loves him. They clicked as soon as they met each other at the Royal Ballet School (RBS). There's a kindred spirit between them as artists, she sees something in him and gravitates towards him and vice versa. There's a real trust between them which is wonderful, and she feels very lucky to have worked so much with him and explored so much of her own artistry with him. They've done a lot of debuts together which is a lot of work, so they've put in the hard graft and created lots of memories. He is wonderful to dance alongside, the chemistry is very natural and feels instinctive. Looking back to when he arrived in the Upper School, Anna Rose remembered him as a ball of light, and he still has the same spirit which she loves. She has just done Cinderella with him. It was a wonderful experience in a dream role she was so looking forward to performing as it was one of the first ballets she saw. Doing it with Marci was extra special, and having Darcey Bussell as coach was another cherry on the cake. Rooted in classical technique, it is a beautiful ballet which has everything - narrative, humour, human, comic timing, you have to feel for the character, but it also has those tutu moments when you have to be on top of the technique. That's what she enjoyed about the ballet, showing the character in different ways. She felt she could put on the long dress and be free, and then a tutu and think about the line, emphasising different things at different times. The score is beautiful and special to dance to. Walking towards Marcelino in a wedding dress, she felt a bit overwhelmed. When you've worked so hard with someone, there's often a big moment, particularly in wedding scenes! Her Sisters were amazing, just so funny and genuinely made her laugh on stage. Cinderella felt very natural to her as a person (not that she's always sweeping floors!) and the connection came easily to her so she could let her own persona out there without having to try too much. Asked if acting comes naturally to her, Anna Rose said she loves it and she feels at one with certain characters depending on what's happening in her life. She can draw on her personal experience and let her thoughts and emotions inform the technique, making movements out of feelings which is what ballet is. What she loves is the feeling of self-expression and being able to communicate which she finds much easier than talking.
Reverting to her beginnings on the stage Anna Rose said she's still connected to London Children's Ballet (LCB) of which she is a Patron. She was nine years old when she took part in A Little Princess which was a pivotal moment. Before that she'd been at her local school and loved to dance and sing then just fell into doing a couple of West End musicals when talent scouts came to her village and suggested auditioning. She thought it would be fun and did Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Palladium and Les Miserables which came after LCB. She was very lucky to have had that experience so young as well as LCB as she felt performing was part of who she was, so never had a fear of going on stage. It was fun and brought people joy and that's still true in a different way. Her parents weren't connected with the stage. She was always entertaining the family and putting on shows and there was always joy and music in the home, but her parents didn't perform.
In Chitty Anna Rose was the youngest in the cast and remembers being well looked after. It was great fun travelling on the train with friends, feeling very grown up. They'd warm up in the Palladium and then onto the stage and if there was a double show they'd go out for a meal in between. She didn't think too much of it but loved being part of the team and singing and dancing. At about the same time she joined the Junior Associates. For Les Mis there were three teams of children, so they performed a couple of times a week. Generally, she did her normal school day and went to town afterwards. If there was a matinee it was normally at the weekend. While she was at LCB Gailene Stock saw her and asked if she would be interested in auditioning for RBS. At that stage Anna Rose didn't fully understand what it was to be a ballerina but loved performing so went along for the ride. Gradually she knew it was what she wanted and was committed to pursuing it.
Talking of the recent mixed programme, Anna Rose said she was in Pam Tanowitz's piece which she loved. She laughed to herself performing in front of the red run where you normally take your bow, it felt so whacky and different, and she thought she'd never again have the chance to be so kooky on the Opera House stage. She really enjoyed that element of it and Pam is a wonderful creator, very instinctive and can appear crazy but very thorough in how she prepares and curates her ballet and provides a comfortable environment where you can be yourself. Her work provokes a strong reaction which is important for art which is worth doing if it makes people have an opinion. It was a joy to dance with William Bracewell who is such a lovely man and a great partner, and they had lots of fun on stage. They began with the creation of Dispatch Duet three years ago and Encounters was an extension of that pas de deux. It's a deconstructed way of looking at classical dance, merging contemporary and classical with a bit of poker-faced performing and humour. It's a different way of performing and exciting to be part of as well as a challenge. She feels she learns the most when she challenges herself. David asked how much Pam explains what she wants. Anna Rose said in her experience Pam has an idea and works with the people in front of her so she's very in the moment. Sometimes she comes with material ready-made and she'll put in human interactions and things which happen by chance in the studio so totally different from Ashton or MacMillan. Anna Rose had seen Merce Cunningham's work which she thought amazing and said you can see the similarities. A lot of people involved in dance appreciate that balancing in a pointe shoe is quite challenging, and a lot of Pam's technique is similar you're showing line and technical movement but require a lot of strength and stamina. The duet itself is quite long and very powerful so you can't half do it even if you must make it look quite pedestrian, and there are moments when you have to switch gear in your muscles which is incredibly challenging. Afterwards both Will and she felt they'd really worked out with muscles trembling.
Later this season they have the Balanchine bill, and Anna Rose will have debuts in the third movement of Symphony in C and also the Russian girl in Serenade, a very beautiful work. So, a couple of months of grind but she's really looking forward to it. Then there are a few more Romeo and Juliets, followed by the Wheeldon bill. She's doing The American in Paris part which is very exciting. They then have Alice at the end of the season which she's done before. It was her first full length ballet so has a special place in her heart, and it will be lovely to return to it and see Alice with different eyes.
Reverting to last season, they finished with Rhapsody which was another great experience coached by Alexander Agadzhanov. She danced with Taisuke Nakao whose debut it was, so it was fulfilling to help someone else with the role. It's an incredible piece of choreography, so musical and you feel you've done a marathon because of the number of steps in a count. Anna Rose feels part of the orchestra, a percussion instrument, and part of the sound in the pas de deux. The music is so graceful and it's an amazing piece, very different from Cinderella but similar in that all Ashton's work is so musical and very satisfying to perform. You find depth in both ballets but in different ways. Music and rhythm of steps in Rhapsody evoke an emotion whereas Cinderella is more out there for you to choose how you show it. Anna Rose was injured last season but came back to that ballet, which was her goal, willing her body to feel better. Every dancer experiences injury which unfortunately is part of the job. They aren't bionic and occasionally it is important to listen to your body, making sure it is at its peak and you're ready to go. Sometimes your body tells you, you need to rest so Anna Rose listened and now feels very fit. It's really great that they have such good health care in place which should help lead to a longer career. The nature of what they do demands so much physically, putting their bodies through hours of rigorous training and performing and it's heartbreaking when injury happens. At the time she was preparing Swan Lake and had done the stage call, so it was gutting to be off even if only for about six weeks.
She also did Don Q last season, which was an absolute joy and she loved every second of its preparation with Zenaida Yanowky as coach and Carlos Acosta came in. She was looking forward to playing the role, feisty and zestful, and loved the music and warmth and she loved performing her. She saw herself as Kitri but no one knows what you can do until you're given the chance and she likes that choreographers from the outside see her in a different light but at this point she had the confidence to show that side of her. She was dancing with Steven McRae. It was a great shame when he went off though Marci stepped in to save the day. She'd done the Kitri solo aged 16, so it was in her head and now she was given the chance to unleash the inner Kitri! She did the mistress in Manon for the first time which was great fun with Laura Morera coaching. Every character in MacMillan's ballets is important, from the beggars to the leads, and you feel a sense of pride in being part of a whole story. It's a very challenging and technical solo which she danced with the drunk Luca Acri which was great fun. Before that she'd done other roles including beggars and courtesan and she was lucky to do the Manon pas de deux in Jacob's Pillow and would love to perform the role.
At the end of last season was Jacobs Pillow which was like a celebration of dance. There were three stages and a hectic schedule with many shows. She and Marcelino did Wayne's Carbon Life which was great fun and the crowd loved it, Manon bedroom pas de deux, and Giselle. Plus, there was a streaming. It was wonderful to be part of a group of dancers taking the Royal Ballet to people who appreciate and respect dance so much. She had done Giselle with the National Ballet of Portugal, but it was nice to do it with her home company. She was in Nutcracker doing the Sugar Plum Fairy for the cinema relay. It's a great honour to be etched in people's memory in that way, and it was a great progression from doing the Russian gingerbread at the lower school to the Sugar Plum. She felt a sense of pride and happy to be part of what may be people's first exposure to ballet at Christmas and a privilege to be in that position. There's something about Christmas that makes you reflective and she's a very Christmas person. Do you get bored as Sugar Plum when you sit around a lot? She doesn't get bored as it's really hard. At the beginning of Act II as you enter the Kingdom of the Sweets you know it's your turn whereas Clara has a line to follow, and everything falls into place and you do a big pas de deux at the end when you feel comfortable. Sugar Plum has to have a steely air of confidence as well as the warmth, being the embodiment of everything that is good, and that's a big thing to hold on the ROH stage. You can't ever tire of that role, though it is tiring to perform. The music is so exquisite and carries you through and every time she finds something new in it. You are constantly learning. During the first act, she warms up, puts on her glittery wig, tries things out with her partner in the studio. You need to be coordinated particularly in the classics, and she does a lot of visualising, calmly going through it to the music.
Like Water for Chocolate.;It was really good fun. Again, it pushed her into showing another side of her which shocked some people but it's important for the growth of the career and the way you perform. It was such an experience, similar to being in a play. The first scene with a quail recipe they were interacting with each other, understanding the dialogue between each character and setting the scene before they actually danced which felt as if they were part of a theatre group. You can see it in Chris's work, the way they 'speak' to each other is very thought out and the dancing is a result of that. It's quite Broadway and showy which was freeing and once she felt confident, she could explore further.
Anna Rose had done Carbon Life before Jacob's Pillow and said working with Wayne is a physical and mental workout. You leave the studio feeling you've given everything. You think you've got something, and he changes it or reverses or inverts it. It's like algebra for the brain and body; you feel like a Rubik's cube. You have to be open-minded and malleable to work with him. She is stretched in his work and loves working with different choreographers who see something in her or vice versa which then pushes her and makes her more diverse in her repertoire. It's very challenging but also fulfilling. Carbon Life was the first of his works she performed in a featured role, with Matthew Ball. Woolf Works. She's been in most of the scenes in a different role. Each time she comes to the ballet she is progressing in a different way. She particularly loved watching Alessandra Ferri who was so beautiful in that role, and her artistry was very inspiring. Dante was another wonderful experience, creating Dido in Inferno, which premiered in Los Angeles a few years ago. It was quite a challenge to dance with chalk all over, the lighting was particularly dark and it's a heavy topic emotionally. It was very physical, and each movement has a different flavour. They did the pas de deux separately without seeing anyone else's work and wondered how it would come together but amazingly it did just before the performance. The score came quite late on which often happens with Wayne's works. She recalled once rehearsing to Alicia Keys and then it all changed. It seems Wayne will see what fits with the movement and the bodies at the time. It's slightly similar to Pam and the dancers have to be ready for the ride! Anna Rose tends to not count, but if anything, she sings it, so when she doesn't know the tune as with the Thomas Ades score, she wonders how to manage it and has to be in the moment and spontaneous. Once it's in her body and head she has something as a parameter of where the music should sit. A lot of the music she would find difficult to count and emote so tries not to think of it mathematically and lets the movement come from the feeling of the sound. With more classical roles she normally ignores the count unless it's really necessary, preferring to sing it in her head, and thinking of it as a song also helps with breathing.
Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. There's no doubt they are a challenge in so many aspects, but the classics are such an important part of the rep as a ballerina, so Anna Rose feels lucky to have had the chance to delve into them and hopes to grow in her career in confidence and the embodiment of the character. Both those ballets are challenging, in similar and different ways, with the purity of the work and making everything look effortless isn't easy for three or four acts. It's like a marathon but that's part of being a dancer, keeping you in check with technique and it also informs what you do in a contemporary sense.
When she first danced Aurora her Prince was James Hay which was wonderful though unfortunately he was ill on debut day and Matt came to the rescue. She has wonderful memories and recalls going into the 3rd act with Matt, holding his hand, and thinking they'd gone through White Lodge together and it was quite cool! You have such moments when you catch each other's eye and think well done, realising you've reaped the reward of hard work.
As she'd said, Gailene Stock saw Anna Rose in LCB. She lived just outside London and was a day student for the first year at White Lodge but after that she boarded and went home to see her family every week which gave her a sense of normality. The ballet world is wonderful but it's also so important to know who you are as an individual, and the family keep her feet firmly on the ground. Of White Lodge highlights, going to the Opera House and seeing the Company perform felt amazing for an aspiring ballerina. Watching Alina Cojacaru dance the Manon pas de deux, it was so seamless, and she could see as a young girl the emotional outpouring of the adults but couldn't understand how they did it so couldn't wait to do pas de deux. They had a day when it snowed, and they had snowball fights. She thought White Lodge would be like Hogwart's, everyone seemed to have a magical power, you feel the history of the building and a privilege to be there, but don't understand it all at that age. Her parents never put pressure on her but always supported her and kept her going till all the hard work paid off. There were three out of 15 originals fromYear 7 who went to the Upper School. She and Matt are the only ones from that year who are in the Company.
In her first year she was in Step by Step which was choreographed by Vanessa Fenton, who had done work for LCB and saw something in Anna Rose at a young age. At school she recalled performances in the end of year shows and performing on the lawn and it prepared you for performing and being part of an institution, though it was tough to be boarding and away from your family at such a young age. Working with the company in Nutcracker and being the little girl in Swan Lake she learned a lot by watching. Aged 16 she and Marcelino did the Don Q pas de deux in Venice, remembering it as a 10 pm show because of the heat, performing outside in a courtyard where the stage almost melted so her pointe shoes were mushy. They couldn't find anything to eat so they had a chicken drum stick and ice cream, but they had a great time, the audience was fantastic, and there was great energy, so she remembers it fondly as a starting point of their performing together.
When she was about 11, she performed at Buckingham Palace a couple of times, and it was the last thing she did while at the Upper School. She and Matt did the Rhapsody pas de deux and she remembers thinking it was her best week ever, performing in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, and the next day joining the company! She'd won lots of awards at school including the Phyllis Bedells' bursary which was held at the RAD where Steven McRae was an adjudicator, and the Young British Dancer of the Year which gave a great opportunity to showcase talent to directors for future jobs. Her little sister, now 13, was born that morning so she went to visit her and then direct to the Linbury to perform and won. It was the strangest 24 hours. She also received the April Olrich award for Dynamic Performance so along the way she was fed with confidence. She always had a humble confidence, but it was wonderful to have reassurance from people in the industry and encouragement to keep going and it helped to have people's belief in you. Lots of girls from different backgrounds came into the Upper School. It's wonderful having an array of education and the way people see the world. Having that at a young age gives you an expansive view of the world and puts you in good stead for the future in ballet and in life. You need to surround yourself with people who have a broad view of the world so you can remain open minded and appreciative of different cultures and practices. That's also part of the Royal Ballet, having a diverse rep and people coming from different cultures with different styles and schools and coming into the Upper School with only White Lodge as your background with British ballet, you see different influences and learn from them. It's fine to have healthy competition and stimulus to try something different. Her first-year teacher was Katya Zvelebilova who was tough but was great and she loved it, then Anita Young in the second year and third year she was only there for a couple of weeks before joining the company. Her first work was Mayerling. She was shocked especially in the tavern scene, meeting people for the first time and having to pretend to be a certain way and you don't feel comfortable. But you can wear different hats which aren't you and you can be so different from your own personality. You are a vehicle for someone else's story.
Questions: during Covid she made a short film. What made her do it? It was a film in slow motion of going up on pointe and down and it was just to show working from home. Different people from different walks of life were showing what they were doing and that was her way of keeping going with training – a good example of how to use your feet. She felt very lucky. Her mother works for the NHS so she could see the catastrophic effect on people. She felt she had to keep going as it was important to be ready to go the moment, they came out of it, to be part of the light at the end of a tunnel. They don't save lives but it's part of what makes life great so when they were able to, they could give people some joy. She felt she had to keep herself going which helped get her through it.
She shares a dressing room with Yasmine Naghdi and they will be in the same performances of Onegin. She's looking forward to it as they get on really well so it will be nice to be sisters in the ballet. When you're leading a ballet, you are mostly on your own so you can focus, but it's lovely to have the camaraderie when you're not the only central character. There's a real joy, a shared sense of responsibility and fun which you had when younger in the company.
In the corps you're on almost every night until you become a soloist and beyond when you're not on every night so, said David, it must be a different life. As a principal, Anna Rose said preparations are so much more taxing before going on stage and everything is much bigger behind the scenes. You may not be on stage as much, but there's lots of material, having to keep your body going, and a responsibility that you feel you are carrying the show. You work solo small unit whereas before you were part of a dance troop. It's a change of dynamic and it's wonderful that on your nights off you can broaden your outlook, see other things and educate yourself as life/work balance is also important.
This season Anna Rose has a couple of galas coming up, but she tries to give her time to the Company when she can, particularly when working on something new. Summertime is usually the best for guesting. She loves touring. You get to know the Company people more thoroughly, socialise with dancers, then when you are in a ballet with them your level of understanding is already there.
Do you get support from other dancers when injured? Your main group of friends check up on each other, you have a shared understanding and if you have been injured you are more attuned with how people feel. There's a balance of not asking all the time with a nice feeling you aren't alone. Dancers are very supportive, particularly with the health care in the Royal Ballet, and help get you back to confidence on stage. Everyone's experience is different, depending on what you are coming back to. You have to build confidence and can't just do it on your own. Your coach and partner play a huge part in your coming back – you're building confidence as well as building muscle.
A member said she was at the performance of Don Q when they lost Steven. After everything that happened Anna Rose held a pose on pointe for ages. She said she trusts Marci implicitly but half-jokingly thought they hadn't rehearsed so she'd just balance for a second. She had a very strange feeling of being torn between head and heart, feeling the show must go on though wanting to make sure Steven was OK, but having to get back on stage. She felt herself in a strange professional head zone but towards the end of the ballet she thought we're almost there so let go a bit which probably helped the balance. Also, she felt the audience held her up. They play such a huge part in making you confident and, especially when not nice things happen, you feel their warmth which gives you an extra injection of energy and tenacity.
David closed the meeting by giving huge thanks to Anna Rose for being our guest and for supporting the Ballet Association. In return she said she and the dancers all appreciated Association's support.
Report written by Liz Bouttell and edited by Anna Rose O’Sullivan and David Bain.
© The Ballet Association 2025