Interview: English National Ballet’s Anri Sugiura – dancing with ease, softness and elegance
Tonight, English National Ballet First Artist, Anri Sugiura continues her artistic journey, dancing the Lilac Fairy in Kenneth MacMillan‘s production of The Sleeping Beauty. She will dance the role for five of the seven performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall. I talked to her on the eve of the run.
So, Anri, the opening night is approaching, and you’ll be dancing the Lilac Fairy in front of an audience of 5,000 people – are you excited?
Yes, I am very excited but also just as nervous! It will be my first time dancing at the beautiful Royal Albert Hall. It has always been my dream to perform in such a venue, and I can’t wait to share the moment with the audience.
But it’s not the first time you’ve danced the role.
I danced it in Liverpool, Manchester and Southampton, during ENB’s tour last Autumn. I’m grateful for the many opportunities to perform this role. I have danced it with different casts of principals, and every performance feels different, which I really love.
What are the greatest challenges of the role? What do you enjoy most about it?
The biggest challenge for this role is definitely the variation. It needs pure technique to achieve high-quality work with ease, softness and elegance.
I enjoy the mime scenes the most. The Lilac Fairy is such an important character in the storytelling, and I love going on the journey with Aurora and Prince Désiré throughout the ballet.
Sugiura was born in the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo, which stretches from the Seto Inland Sea to the Sea of Japan. As a little girl, she attended the Seiko Kuramoto Ballet School in Amagasaki from 2007, but in 2016, she left Japan to study at the Académie de danse Princesse Grace in Monaco.
Why did you leave Japan?
It had been my dream to go to a professional ballet school abroad while I was in Japan. When I got a scholarship to work at Académie Princess Grace, I wasn’t worried about anything; I was just very excited for the next challenge.
You stayed there for five years, so I imagine you enjoyed it.
My time at Académie Princess Grace was very special and helped create the dancer I am today. It was a place where I learned so many things as both a dancer and a person, and I found my passion and love for ballet.
So why do you dance?
I dance because I love and enjoy dancing, but I started when I was seven because my sister danced, and I didn’t like it at first. I had great support from my teacher and kept dancing without really thinking about why I became passionate about it.
Later, there was a moment when I questioned whether ballet was what I wanted to do with my life…
When you were at the Académie Princess Grace?
Yes. I lost my confidence in dancing and struggled to find what I really wanted to do with my life, but thankfully, with a lot of support from the school, I am still here and passionate about ballet.
What made you continue?
It was just impossible to imagine myself without dance. I realised that I love going deeply into ballet, finding the best version of myself through dancing, and constantly working to improve and focus on myself.
In 2021, you left the Académie and joined the Semperoper Ballett Dresden, where Aaron S. Watkin was director. But in 2024, you left Dresden to join the English National Ballet.
I left Dresden for two reasons. One was that I wanted to work more with ENB’s Artistic Director, Aaron S. Watkin…
And Watkin had become Artistic Director of English National Ballet in 2023.
Yes. I had worked with him for two years in Dresden, but I was struggling with foot injuries and wasn’t able to work with him as much as I wanted.
The second reason was that, as I struggled with injury during my time in Dresden, I felt I needed a change to refresh my mind and restart my career in a different environment.
Tell me about the stages that lead to the performance… the daily class.
For me, the class is like meditation, where I can forget everything happening outside. I do class every morning, and it’s a place where I can fully focus on my body and challenge myself to improve as a dancer.
The rehearsals.
I enjoy connecting with my coach and working together to find my best way of dancing. It’s such a great feeling when things magically work because of one piece of advice from the coach.
The day of the performance.
I am usually super nervous, and I always tell myself, “Everything will work if you do what you need to do and just enjoy it”.
One of your coaches in the magnificent Loipa Araújo.
My time with her has been very precious. I love working with her, and I am very grateful for the opportunity.
Her voice is like magic. As soon as I see and listen to her, everything works. She gives me great life advice as a dancer and artist. I feel her love and passion for ballet and this art form, whenever we work together, and I feel so lucky to experience that so closely.
She is such a lovely person, with a warm heart, and she is always by your side, helping you improve as a dancer. She is one of the greatest coaches I have met. It’s such a pleasure to work with her, and I am looking forward to continuing.
I feel very lucky to work with Loipa Araújo, and I’ve been learning many valuable lessons which I’ll carry throughout my career. It’s been a great challenge working on the Lilac Fairy and developing myself as an artist.
You were one of six dancers chosen to participate in ENB’s Emerging Dancer competition.
I enjoyed the whole process of Emerging Dancer. We had about three months to work on it with the coaches. I learned a lot about partnering and how to dance together with someone else.
Emerging Dancer is an annual event designed to “showcase, celebrate, and nurture” the rising talent within the company. It was established in 2010 by former director Tamara Rojo.
Six nominated company dancers – typically from the lower or middle ranks – rehearse and perform both a classical pas de deux and a contemporary solo in front of a panel of judges.
You were dancing with Jakob Wheway Hughes, who won two awards.
He is a great dancer and person. He brings such positive energy both inside and outside the studio, and he has a lot of passion for dance. I was inspired by his joy and the way he dances without fear. I really enjoyed sharing the stage with him, and I’m looking forward to dancing more together.
You danced the Sleeping Beauty pas de deux – quite a challenge!
Jakob and I discussed with Aaron which pas de deux would be the best for us to work on.
The Sleeping Beauty wedding pas de deux is one of the most demanding classical pieces and requires pure technique. It was my very first time doing a grand pas de deux with adagio, solo and coda. It was challenging to do all the technical work while still making it look easy and elegant.
It came off very well! And for your contemporary solo, company Soloist Minju Kang created a lovely piece for you.
I loved working with her. She is a dancer I really look up to, especially in contemporary work.
At the beginning of this process, I found it difficult to feel confident in contemporary work, so it wasn’t an easy journey. I wanted to use the Emerging Dancer contemporary solo process as an opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and show different sides of myself, and she helped me so much to make it happen.
Now you are starting to dance more major roles.
I am grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had with ENB, and it’s been such a great experience working with amazing coaches.
What are your dream roles?
One of my favourites, and also a dream role, is Marguerite in John Neumeier‘s La Dame aux camélias. Of course, I’d love to dance as many different roles as possible and continue to improve as both a dancer and an artist.
I think it’s important to set goals for the kind of dancer I want to become, but I don’t plan my future too strictly, because I believe being present and working hard on what I need to do now will get me where I want to be.
You’ve mentioned hard work several times.
Ballet has no perfection; it’s a never-ending process. That’s why I love dancing. At the end of the day, I get to share the joy of dancing with audiences and have the chance to make people happy through my dancing. It’s such a beautiful art form.
English National Ballet
in
The Sleeping Beauty
Royal Albert Hall, London
Thursday 25 June – Sunday 28 June 2026
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
