Mariko Sasaki 2026
- Antonio Cortese
- Helle Flood
- Kevin Emerton
- Lukas Brændsrød
- Marianela Nunez
- Mariko Sasaki
- Yusuke Otake
Mariko Sasaki & Lukas Brændsrød
First Soloists, The Royal Ballet
Interviewed by David Bain
American International Church, Tue 06th Jan, 2026
The evening began with a discussion about Mariko’s last “Nutcracker” performance on 30th December 2025. It was a notable performance because unbeknownst to her, her partner, Leo Dixon injured himself. The injury happened during Leo’s solo, at which point Mariko was offstage walking round to her position for her Sugar Plum Fairy solo, so she could not see that something had happened. She could hear people running around and talking so suspected that something was amiss, but she had to go onstage for her solo. Leo performed the grand pas de deux with a smile and then asked her to move forward for their bow, still smiling. So, Mariko still had no idea that anything was wrong. It was only when they were both back offstage that she realised that he could no longer move. Kevin O’Hare had come backstage and people were saying that he could not go back on for the finale. This is when she noticed that his expression had changed and he was no longer smiling. She could not believe that he finished the grand pas de deux when he was in so much pain and she has huge admiration for him. As a result of Leo’s injury and a shin injury that Mariko has had for a while, they were unable to dance in their last performance on 3rd January where they were replaced by Joonhyuk Jun and Sae Maeda.
Lukas has also returned to the stage after a period recovering from an operation. He performed in “The Nutcracker” as the Sugar Plum Prince. He enjoyed it, but it was a big challenge because the role is a very classical and pure role. He performed in two shows. He was nervous for the first show as it was his first performance back on stage. The second performance was challenging for a different reason, as there was a technical failure just before the transformation scene where the tree grows and the battle scenery is brought on. Nowadays everything is high tech and fully automated with no manual back up so there was an early extended interval while they tried to fix the problem. The technicians were successful and, miraculously, they still managed to close the show on time. It was touch and go and for a while the possibility existed that the Sugar Plum solos and pas de deux would be danced on the party set so that the audience went away having seen some kind of show. Lukas was partnered by Annette Buvoli and their main coach was Christopher Saunders who has a wealth of knowledge about the Sugar Plum pas de deux. He has coached several Sugar Plum couples and has seen so many performances through the years that he knows what it is supposed to look and feel like and what the dancers should be thinking. He also knows how individual interpretations can be incorporated. It was reassuring to have him to guide them as they had both danced their respective roles before but never together, so he helped them find their version of the dances.
Lukas first performed the role two years ago as a replacement for Calvin Richardson who was injured whilst rehearsing the Sugar Plum pas de deux. It was only two weeks before the show when Lukas got the call from Kevin O’Hare asking him to take over the role. It turned out to be a great opportunity for him. A couple of days later, Reece Clarke left ballet class with an injury and, once again, Lukas was asked to stand in. Unbelievably, a few days later, Ryoichi Hirano also injured himself, leaving Lukas to make a third stand in performance. All these injuries show how tough and challenging “The Nutcracker” ballet is and what a toll it takes on the body. The result was fantastic for Lukas as he got to partner three different ballerinas: Letitia Dias, Mayara Magri and Sarah Lamb. When you are asked to go on stage at the last minute you are really saving the day, so you feel that there is less pressure on you even though you want to do your best and deliver because you are partnering a great ballerina.
When Mariko first danced the Sugar Plum Fairy, she was also replacing injured ballerinas and had two different partners: William Bracewell and Joseph Sissens. It is a classic “Nutcracker” scenario with dancers injuring themselves and being replaced at the last minute. How challenging changing partners is depends on how much time you have to prepare. Sometimes it is just one day with one rehearsal, so you have to quickly figure out what is different about this partnership. It can be slightly different choreography such as a step with the arm up rather than down and the new version has to be memorised and remembered during the show. This means that during the performance you must be very present and aware of everything that is going on around you. It can be quite exciting and can often be one of your best shows due to your heightened awareness. It is also a great opportunity to learn the needs of different ballerinas. His co-dancer, Harris Bell, likens it to figuring out a new puzzle which is a fun way of looking at things. Indeed, it can make you very nervous or, conversely, very excited.
Mariko feels that the urgency of the situation means that dancers have to trust each other more and this leads to a greater connection between the partners which is a magical feeling. She remembers an occasion two years ago when she and Lukas were guesting in Japan. She tore her calf muscle and could not go on after their first performance. She was replaced by National Ballet of Japan Principal Dancer, Ayako Ono. Even though Ayako and Lukas only had half an hour of rehearsal together, their performance was brilliant. She feels that trust in your partner, good communication and the years of training mean that last minute cast changes can be well-managed.
David asked Lukas to expand on the freedom Christopher Saunders gave them to add their own interpretations to the dances and Lukas responded that it is a limited freedom because they have to stay true to the choreography. This is one of Chris’s strengths because he was present when Sir Peter Wright created this production of “The Nutcracker”- he played a parent and Arabian dancer in the original version – so he knows what Sir Peter’s intentions were. He has also seen the various versions and knows what the different options are so that, depending on the dancers, they can try alternative things. For example, both Annette and Lukas are tall so they may try a long pose which would suit them better. You can also play with the timings and change how long you pull out a movement, or which part of the movement you accent etc. This way you mould the dancers’ version into existence.
Prior to this performance Lukas had been recovering from an ankle surgery. He had an extra bone in his ankle, which is a common situation for sportspeople and ballet dancers. It is a calcification of the bone due to constant impact on the joints. In his case he had a claw-like bone sticking out which was grinding every time he landed from a jump. He had been dealing with the situation for at least two years, so he and the physio team decided that it was time to get it fixed. He had the operation three and a half months ago. It is a very straightforward operation, involving shaving the piece of bone that stuck out, and it took less than an hour. However, the recovery time is long for a ballet dancer because ankle movements are so complex. His surgeon told him that if he had been a football or rugby player he would have been back playing within six weeks. The length of the recovery time shows just how demanding ballet is on the body. He was able to use his ankle within a six-week period but building back the strength took the time. This resulted in missed rehearsal time and his inability to perform in any shows. His recovery ended in time for him to make “The Nutcracker” rehearsals at the beginning of December though.
The conversation moved on to Lukas’ and Mariko’s wedding last summer. It took place in Lukas’ hometown, Oslo. Mariko’s family came over to Norway for the first time, and it was also the first time that the families met in person. All previous contact had been via WhatsApp video calls. Everyone was very nervous as Mariko’s family did not speak English, but it was amazing how well they communicated using gestures and Mariko did a sterling job as the interpreter. They enjoyed meals together, exchanged presents and the week together was beautiful. The wedding itself took a great deal of planning as people were coming in from overseas; some on their first visit to Norway which Lukas wanted to be a good experience. The weather was on their side too, so, all in all, it was a great success.
Mariko’s season began with “La fille mal gardée” where she played the role of one of Lise’s friends. This was her debut in this role and, of course, her debut doing the clog dance. She loves everything about this ballet because it is so much fun, full of sunshine and happiness. She hopes that the audience pick up on how much eye contact there is amongst the dancers on stage. Although the choreography looks simple, as if the dancers are just skipping around, it is really difficult and the dancers are totally out of breath when they come off stage. In fact, it is a typical Ashton ballet! This was a very nice way for her to start the season. Next, she performed in “Serenade” as the lead Russian Girl in the Triple Bill programme. This was a challenging role, but it is a beautiful, elegant ballet and the girls motivated each other to get through it. They were pushed to the limit both during rehearsals and during the on-stage performances. Because of this, they all felt exhilarated during the curtain calls because they had achieved something amazing and special.
During this period, they had already begun to rehearse “The Nutcracker”. At the Royal Ballet, it is customary to work on two to three ballets at a time, performing the current productions whilst rehearsing the oncoming ones. So, October through December was a challenging period for Mariko because her roles involved a great deal of jumping. They were very high jumps and to achieve these on stage you must rehearse them all day and every day. It was a very active start to the season, and she feels that she has been dancing for around seven months already whereas it has only been three!
In addition, she was not meant to perform the Sugar Plum Fairy so early. Her first performance was due to be 30th December, partnering with Leo Dixon, but as Isabella Gasparini is expecting, Mariko replaced her and partnered Giacomo Rovero who was debuting in the role of Sugar Plum Prince on 26th November, the second show of the run. So, she had the honour of dancing with two Princes making their debut. This meant spending a lot of time in the studio and they all learned a great deal during the rehearsal process.
Initially Lukas was due to perform in “Woolf Works” but as rehearsals began in November when he was still recuperating from his operation, he had to pull out. This will be the second time he is missing “Woolf Works”. Likewise, after discussions with the Healthcare Team, her coaches and Kevin O’Hare, it has been decided that Mariko should also not perform because of her ongoing problem with the shin injury. There have been quite a few problems casting “Woolf Works” because of the several injuries after “The Nutcracker” but the show will be going ahead. She has, however, been part of the “Woolf Works” rehearsals. She loves the movements and patterns created by them with the music. She finds the storylines of Acts I and III very emotional, so much so that they almost made her cry during the rehearsals. She finds it a beautiful ballet. The role she has been rehearsing is Rezia, the Italian wife of a war veteran who is suffering from PTSD. The ballet is very difficult to watch as he suffers from visions of the best friend he lost during the war. The wife can see his pain and struggle and tries to console him which makes for touching and dramatic choreography.
David reminded Mariko that the last time she spoke at the Ballet Association meeting, she claimed to be a classical dancer, and she did not see herself as a contemporary dancer, which David, at the time, decried as nonsense because she had been selected to dance in a Twyla Tharp piece. He now asked her about the challenges of working with Wayne McGregor. She admits that she does now love doing the contemporary pieces. She has danced in three of his ballets but has not yet gone through the process of creating a piece with him. It is interesting to her how he accepts any of the ballet dancers’ movements – nothing is “wrong”. Naturally, there is a set choreography, but he allows the dancer a certain freedom to imagine their own movements and he will respect these. This freedom has allowed Mariko to discover new sides to herself whilst rehearsing McGregor ballets.
Lukas finds that it is great for them to work with different styles of choreography and explore outside the limits of what is done in ballet class or dancing the classical repertoire because it makes you realise that so much more is possible not only physically but also how you think about dance and choreography. It is not relevant whether the new pieces are hits or not. The important thing, both for dancers and the audience, is the creation of new works. Many classical pieces also flopped in an earlier period when they were new.
“Giselle” will be the next production after “Woolf Works” and Mariko will be playing the lead role, so it is important that she take care of her current injury so that she is in good condition to perform. Lukas will be performing Hilarion, a role that he has performed before. It will be nice to dance something familiar and fun.
Neither Lukas nor Mariko attended the tours to South Korea or the Nervi Ballet Festival in Genoa. The company has begun to send smaller groups on tour with a mixed programme. They attended the 2024 tour to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, and a new set of dancers were selected for the 2025 tours. This meant that they both had six weeks of holiday (instead of five) which was fortuitous as it gave them some extra time to plan the wedding.
David asked what their last season highlights were. Lukas performed in “Fool’s Paradise”, part of the Christopher Wheeldon programme. This was the first revival of the piece in several years. The last time it was performed predates Lukas in the company and he had never even seen the ballet before, so it was fun to tackle it. He also did one performance with Annette Buvoli of “The Two of Us”, also part of the Wheeldon programme. It was a very unusual piece, so fun for them to take on. They were coached by Robbie Fairchild, who has danced the role before. He does not usually coach for the Royal Ballet and has a great energy, so it was a good opportunity for them. Naturally, Christopher Wheeldon himself was present and, as it was such a long time since the ballet had been performed, he saw “Fool’s Paradise” with fresh eyes.
Mariko spent quite some time away from the stage, partly due to injury but, as she told us earlier, she did perform in “Serenade” as well as “Cinderella”. Her season was relatively quiet, but Lukas reminded her that she also appeared in “Madaddam” which was a ballet she loved. She played the role of Amanda, a wild, independent and strong woman. This was a new character for her. The character Amanda has a bad experience and loses herself somewhat. Although the dancer is not required to do much, she has to react to what is happening around her and show the emotion she is feeling. This is what makes the role challenging. She did also have a particularly nice duet with Marcelino Sambé wearing a rainbow wig.
Lukas played the role of Zeb in Madaddam.The ballet is unusual for Wayne McGregor as he does not usually do narrative ballets. Zeb is tough and wild. McGregor made him quite abstract when he originally created the character on the Canadian National Ballet cast but, for the Royal Ballet, he added some extra layers when he worked with Lukas and Melissa Hamilton and Zeb appeared as a fragment of Amanda’s memory of him which dug up more information about Zeb and gave him more depth. Creating with Wayne McGregor is always a great experience; very fast paced and exciting.
On the subject of the changes Wayne McGregor made to the original ballet created for the Canadian National Ballet, Lukas told us that he rather tweaked some elements after having seen the ballet performed. He wanted to give the Royal Ballet (his home company) a version that felt more their own. However, he remained true to the ballet he created in Canada. What he does do is shape the movement to the individual dancers. For example, Lukas played Zeb in one cast while Mariko played Amanda in a different cast. Amanda and Zeb dance together in a trio in Act III, but the choreography looked different for each trio as the dancers themselves were very different. In this way he makes the choreography more “believable”. Both Lukas and Mariko read the Margaret Atwood trilogy whilst rehearsing and found this very helpful as the story is very complicated. Lukas felt that it would have helped the audience to have read the books as not all of it could be represented in a three-act ballet. However, McGregor wrote the ballet so that it could be interpreted in many ways. It was not a literal representation requiring knowledge of the background, so if you had not read the books, you would still appreciate the action on stage. If you had read them, you would have recognised elements of the story.
Mariko began dancing at the age of three in a very simple ballet class. As many parents do, hers tried many activities with her but she fell in love with ballet and they were extremely supportive of her. Her ballet teachers, whom she has known since she was three years old, are like second parents to her. They still come to see her when she is dancing principal roles. She told them that she wanted to compete in the Prix de Lausanne because she saw that as her only way of getting a scholarship and studying abroad. They accompanied her on the journey which was her first outside of Japan and also her first time on a plane. So, she had these momentous experiences with her ballet teachers. She won her place at the Royal Ballet School and found things very different. In Japan, she went to a normal school and then went to ballet classes afterwards, dancing for approximately one and a half hours. She was always asking her teachers to allow her extra time in the studio after her classes. At the Ballet School she found that she was going from one ballet class to the next with some academic classes in between. She was spending the whole day dancing, and this was every day. She loved it but it was a big change for her body because she found herself exhausted at the end of the day and having to walk very slowly. Her classes include “Character” and “Contemporary” which are things she had never done in Japan. So, all in all, it was a major change for her and provided her with a great deal of learning.
In Mariko’s graduate year she dislocated her knee so was unable to make the normal rounds of auditions. It was a significant injury, and she still has to exercise every day to strengthen the area. Her initial thought was that she would have to return to Japan and give up her dream of dancing overseas. However, David Bintley, the former Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet had watched a class earlier in the year and remembered Mariko. One of his ballet corps was about to go on maternity leave so even though the contracts had already been allocated, he could offer her a 1-year contract to cover this person. Mariko happily accepted the offer.
Among the works she performed in was “La fille mal gardée” and “The Nutcracker”. The Birmingham Royal Ballet is a touring company, so they visited many places performing David Bintley’s own choreography as well as that of Kit Holder, a former BRB dancer and now Artistic Coordinator of the company. Although she only spent one year in the company, she still has very strong ties with the dancers, meeting them regularly, spending Christmas together and attending each other’s weddings.
Unfortunately, her one-year contract came to an end and when she finally had a meeting with the director who was very rarely in Birmingham as he was also Director of The National Ballet of Japan at the time. He made it clear that there would be no extension. It was her BRB colleagues who persuaded her to try for the Royal Ballet, something she would never have dreamt of doing on her own. They insisted she take a class, helping her to create her CV and using their contacts to get her the opportunity to take the class etc. She took the class and was offered a contract a few days later.
Lukas began later at the age of 11. He used to do hip-hop and break dancing before ballet. It is quite common for boys to start later than girls and he knows some dancers in the company who started even later. He trained in Norway until he was 15 and then transferred to the Royal Ballet School. He also went to ballet classes after normal school, so he experienced the same changes as Mariko with ballet classes throughout the day. It was also humbling to be surrounded by the best ballet students from around the world. You may have been the most promising where you came from but now you were amongst the elite. It was a great opportunity to watch the different styles of training and to learn from that.
At the end of his graduate year, Kevin O’Hare, who obviously watches classes, events, assessments and school performances, offered him a place on the Aud Jebsen Young Dancer Programme which had started only the year before. Lukas had already auditioned with the Royal Danish Ballet and had some other auditions lined up but once he received the offer, he cancelled all auditions because when you get an offer from Kevin O’Hare to join the Royal Ballet why would you look elsewhere?!
In answer to the question “What has been your biggest highlight?”, Lukas replied “Onegin, for sure!”. It was his first time tackling a full-length ballet. It encompasses everything he wants to be doing as a dancer with the partnering, the drama and the emotion. In terms of roles that have given him a boost in his career, he said the Sugar Plum Prince, a big classical role which carries the ballet. In addition, he quoted the opportunity to partner so many different ballerinas in both small and big roles. That experience is what then leads to achieving a role like Onegin. He really enjoyed the process of rehearsing “Onegin”. They were coached by Jane Bourne, who is the stager of the ballet, ensuring that everything is done correctly and that the ballet is done justice. They were also coached by Alexander Adgadzhanov who has worked with Natalia Osipova, knows her well and knows the ballet well. In the last few weeks, they were joined by Reid Anderson who has performed the ballet many times in all the male lead roles, so his knowledge of it is phenomenal. He first coached Lukas as Gremin during the first run of the ballet and then later Onegin during the second run. He ensures that you not only do the correct steps but that you also use the correct technique incorporating the required drama. He conveys what the audience should be feeling at each moment not just what the dancer is feeling.
David remembers on Mariko’s behalf what her first role was with the Royal Ballet. She was a whore in “Mayerling” which is something that most ballerinas experience as their first significant role. This time she has been upgraded to what she calls the “leader of the whores”, i.e. the courtesan, Mitzi Caspar. For her, the significant highlight is dancing the Odette/Odile roles in “Swan Lake”. It is a ballet that everyone knows, even if you are not a ballet lover, and the music and posters of the ballet are everywhere. It is an iconic ballet, and she still cannot believe that she had so many performances during her debut. She would love to develop in the roles if the ballet returns in the repertoire. It was her first narrative role where you must feel emotion and show this on stage, especially when playing Odette. Moreover, you have to manage your emotions enough to master the technique whilst you are “in the zone”, meaning that neither technique nor emotion is more important; you have to balance the two. It is one of the few roles where, even during rehearsal, you are so fully into it that you are emotionally exhausted at the end because you have physically and mentally given everything. So much so that you need to sit down for a moment of reflection before you can leave the studio. It is a ballet that has shown her a different side of the art and has taught her much. She has no fear of the Black Swan role, even though this is technically the more difficult role. She enjoys it so much that she can just throw herself into it. The White Swan, however, is the more challenging role for her. She has done many performances and every time she has found the onstage experience different. Her strategy is to “stay grounded, face it, accept it and feel it”. Her single partner so far has been Joseph Sissens because even though she picked up extra shows as a stand-in for Akane Takada, Joseph was also down to partner Akane.
An audience member asked whether the dancers watch videos of dancers from other companies (with a specific reference to Onegin) and at what point in your preparation do they do this? Lukas responded with a definite yes. He did look at several versions from the Royal Ballet and other companies. He found that there were several ways the role could be played so he incorporated the elements that he liked to influence his performance. There are so many subtle nuances in the acting: small glances, the extent to which you show his coldness, or do you want to allow the audience to feel some empathy towards the character? All interpretations are valid, but you need to find the story that makes sense to you. Also, you may have an interpretation prepared, but something your partner does on stage makes you change it and respond to her. This is why the rehearsal process is important where you can do your research and have a base but realise that things may change during the performance. As part of this the inspiration from different sources is important. There is also an element where Onegin is acting out a role for Tatiana, but he seems, at times, to be fooling himself and believing his own narrative. All of this has to be conveyed to the audience.
With such complex characterisation, it is important to discuss your interpretation with your partner. In this case his partner was Natalia Osipova who, as a Russian, grew up with this story and studied it from a young age so she was able to help him find what the character could be and what it was possible for him to do with the role, especially in relation to what she believed would work with her interpretation of Tatiana. David asked whether Lukas was always aware of what Natalia would do on stage and he said most definitely yes. Although it may not seem that way, she is extremely consistent, crafts her performances very thoroughly and her intentions are always the same. What may happen is that she may throw herself at him in a different way because that is how the emotion dictates in the moment, but because they have rehearsed so thoroughly, he is prepared for any version of the leap. The experience makes you very responsive and really brings your performance to life. For him this is “next level” because it is so hard to let go and break through the point of control needed when dancing. She must have trusted him to catch her every time, and this is a great thing to know. He feels that the experience of dancing with her is magic.
Another member asked what roles they would still like to do. For Lukas he aspires to have a role in “Mayerling”, also any of the classical princes such as Albrecht in “Giselle” or the prince in “Swan Lake”. For Mariko, she is looking forward to her role in “Giselle” but dreams of dancing “Sleeping Beauty”. She would also like to do more MacMillan ballets because she is attracted by the drama and storytelling elements of these ballets, even though they can sometimes be quite dark. A third question was whether they preferred working with current or classical choreography. Lukas replied that with current choreography you get live feedback but with choreography where the choreographer is no longer alive, you are receiving knowledge from people who worked with them, so you have a responsibility to those people to do the ballets justice. It is too hard to say which they prefer. For example, the challenge with MacMillan ballets is trying to understand the man who created these amazing artworks and thinking about how to keep these works alive. Modern choreography can be changed or tweaked just as Wayne McGregor did with Madaddam,but this possibly also happened with the older ballets whilst the choreographers were still alive, so there is value in both.
Report written by Herma John and edited by Mariko Sasaki, Lukas Brændsrød and David Bain.
© The Ballet Association 2026