Anna Rose O'Sullivan on her debut in The Nutcracker (The Royal Ballet)

Artist of The Royal Ballet, Anna Rose O’Sullivan, gives audiences a backstage tour of the Royal Opera House during preparations for Peter Wright’s production of The Nutcracker.
Find out more: www.roh.org.uk/...
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker score was commissioned by the director of the Russian Imperial Theatres, following the resounding success of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890. Marius Petipa created the scenario, which is based on a fairytale by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and Lev Ivanov provided the choreography. The Nutcracker was first performed in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. It initially had a poor reception, but its combination of enchanting choreography and unforgettable music has since made it one of the best-loved of all ballets.
In Peter Wright’s classic production, the stage sparkles with theatrical magic - a Christmas tree grows before our eyes, toy soldiers come to life to fight the villainous Mouse King and Clara is taken to the Kingdom of Sweets on a golden sleigh. Tchaikovsky’s score contains some of the best-known melodies in ballet, from the flurrying sounds of the Waltz of the Snowflakes to the dream-like Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs draw upon 19th-century images of Christmas, making this a magical production for the festive season.

[@RoyalBalletAndOpera]

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[@angelgirl8533]

How I imagined Clara to look as a little girl. Excellent ballerina.

[@EeeFae]

J. L' Ange

[@brendonmcmorrow3886]

I saw Anna Rose as Clara and can confirm that she gave us a splendid performance. She is one of a very talented crop of younger dancers in the company at the Royal Ballet. One of the best innovations under Kevin O'Hare has been to introduce longer runs of particular ballets which allows younger dancers to dance some of the meatier solo roles. I have recently seen Anna Rose as the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty (a role in which she excelled).

[@lizziew4954]

omg she's so cute and beautiful! She'll be an amazing Clara x

[@Warrendoe]

Until I started watching these videos, I had no idea of the number of hours a dancer puts into warmup, practice, rehearsal, fitness training… Just totally amazing! But for those of us who watch it and love it a big thank you for all your hard work.

[@ashley_agabao5516]

You can see the elegance and grace even while she’s walking!

[@arantzarojas3823]

She looks so beautiful as Clara!!

[@izziemeghan2446]

she's now a principal dancer. Congratulations to her :)

[@monongahelacats]

She's a lovely dancer. I see a bight future ahead for Anna Rose.

[@marysullivan2125]

I saw Anna Rose in the school performance and she was the outstanding performer - lovely to see her here and good wishes to her for a stellar career.

[@lilyisgoingbonkersofficial5415]

Annie is beautiful she has so much passion, it is light and airy and effortless, every move is graceful. What a sweetie, she deserves the role and the world. 💕

[@dennislaux]

Just beautiful is all I can say. In a world with almost no class, grace or education left, we can rely on the artists of this world to give us hope because our politicians have given us nothing but grief, corruption and disdain.

[@arielburrow9433]

“Gotta put my hair in a bun” Hair is already in a bun #dancerlife

[@rosiegreen813]

There's a video of "How to do the perfect ballet bun" somewhere...

[@kyoshihyo761]

This reminds me of Yuhui Choe's 'a day in the life of a ballerina' :)

[@belletan8598]

Kyoshi Hyo me too

[@kimbridge]

Especially when she's at the door of the changing room saying how she can't let us in

[@balletshoes5997]

She copied everything Yuhui said

[@BMInes]

I wish i can see more nutcracker rehearsals! They were gorgeous

[@lucia5227]

the dress!!! thE DRESS!!!!!!!2!

[@monochrome1219]

Nikki Pontius sooo beautiful..

[@chiedu90069]

Annie is an absolute joy to watch! Thank you!

[@sharonkeogh7036]

Just love this - it's fantastic to see Nicola Katrak standing by the piano smiling as she watches Anna Rose❣

[@elenaaaaaa01]

Wish I would live in England to see this:(

[@amayaess6654]

I live there

[@dulcie_5278]

Yeah it’s great, I haven’t seen it live but they show it in the cinemas

[@saritachan]

wonderful!! another star in the making :D

[@Schokokuchnx33]

What a beautiful dancer she is!

[@BallettoMonson]

She's beautiful, so wish I could come down from Scotland to watch!

[@marktwain380]

Lovely young woman in a big magical role, ballet forever❤

[@HandelLover1989]

adorable footage :))

[@thaliagraichen8312]

her technique... Wow.

[@Amy-ro1qu]

I’ve watched this a million times

[@katwil89]

She is so lovely! Very quick, yet precise while looking effortless and light the whole time,

[@aleniey]

man i keep looking at her bag. i like it!

[@TheStaceySquad]

Sorry this is so late but I'm pretty sure it's a longchamp le plieage. They're pretty popular totes to use as school bags too (especially in colleges).

[@Esstellionn6]

So cool. I wish I could see it live sometimes. :)

[@BooFlo62]

and 6 years later, shes about to debut at sugur plum fairy and is a principal!

[@maxinegeorge2803]

she’s so sweet! and her feet! perfect! absolutely gorgeous the way she moves!

[@icarrus4u]

WOW! She's gorgeous!

[@jamesthosbaker]

Wow, is she talented!

[@DONXMEN]

WAY TO GO! I'm sure you were nothing short of amazing!

[@jayque]

I think she's the best there. Her expressiveness, her feet, her, arms, her interpretation is the best of the movements and character. She's the only one that can do it the correct way. The rest do not have that classical interpretation at all. They are either too minimal or lacking in fully exploiting what the step or movement needs especially in expression. So she does it how I remember it is supposed to be. Not watered down.

[@eurekamreum5458]

Yes! She's my absolute favorite RB's Clara! Absolutely stunning

[@maybudha]

she is so cute!!

[@heinahattuviltti]

I really hope that all children and teenagers and adults were able to have hobbies they want to have. This being in the audience is nice too, but something better could be offered to every one. Just for EVERY ONE to know. You can make a change for the best of every one in the world.

[@TheWow123567]

Beautiful !!

[@niapawina]

Amaaaaaazing!!!!!

[@julialumina1615]

She seems so sweet ahw im already obsessed

[@TheOptimalLife]

She’s so cute!

[@kathymyers7279]

I still don’t know what a “merliton” is.

[@naomialexis4543]

Merliton is a French flute

[@akudumb3021]

Matalin Bloomfield So, is it marzipan or a French flute?

[@akudumb3021]

Matalin Bloomfield Ohhhhh, that makes sense! Thank you so much!

[@Pearlaceous]

Very nice!

[@michaelmoran1339]

Totes Adorbs!

[@jessicacbarone]

lovely! i hope she does well

[@monochrome1219]

Really love the dress at the begining of the video. Does anybody know what kind of dress it that?

[@lilydoyle593]

She used to go to my dance school

[@mirage3572]

What school was it?

[@MelissaLynn]

so beautiful omg now i want to know how it went for her!

[@MelissaLynn]

+This is angelo nice haha thanks!

[@totallyashley]

I love her middle name.... its the same as mine😂😊

[@agnesmarie7065]

Cool!

[@TheSorub]

now shes a first artist!

[@sharonkeogh7036]

You mean First Soloist ❣

[@TheSorub]

@@sharonkeogh7036 I do yes !! lol

[@sharonkeogh7036]

@@TheSorub 😉

[@izziemeghan2446]

She's a principal as of September 2021 !!

[@aia8036]

Just noticed her scarf has bunnies on it... could she be more perfect and adorable??

[@stefaniemedina14]

Do they wash the costumes after each performance?

[@nightangel972000]

So America has a little child playing Clara (Marie), but in England they have an adult in the role... Why?

[@daniellaelm5106]

Stacey Vermilyea I think it’s to do with child labour laws in the uk, they would have to have 5-7 different Clara’s! Some productions do it, but it’s not as common in ballets as in plays. In ballet it’s seen as acting to be able to play a young character

[@rhiannon9213]

The choreography here is also different, so the role is more demanding and therefore needs an adult dancer to do it justice :)

[@LemonadeLaura]

There are some companies in America that have adults play Clara too.

[@mikeclancy7116]

Isn't she delightful!

[@ambersullivan227]

My full name is Amber Rose Sullivan. That’s a lil creepy lol

[@cloroxbleach4880]

..her name is anna rose o’sullivan it’s not creepy you fucking idiot

[@amber6473]

@@cloroxbleach4880 whoa okay

[@maliacole2523]

Most Clara’s are young so this surprised me

[@selfiechic5209]

My name is Klara but with a K !!!

[@kmart3453]

So performers don't put as much effort into matinee performances?

[@maliacole2523]

croissant 910 no they just do different roles sometimes

[@Amy-ro1qu]

Does she get paid to dance there or does she pay to dance there

[@l.h.3804]

Amy She get paid

[@graciemae3614]

Is she gonna act stupid she already has her hair in a bun

[@JelisW]

There are buns, and then there are Dance Buns a.k.a. rocks made of hair and roughly a million hair pins and that will not budge a millimetre no matter how many spins you do and how hard you spot. And then there are Show Dance Buns, which also include a canister of hair spray on top of gel to really make sure that the whole thing fossilizes in place.

[@eurekamreum5458]

Oh God, kids on youtube are the worst.