Ballet dancer Anri Sugiura on strength, recovery and bringing the Lilac Fairy to life in the English National Ballet’s performance of The Sleeping Beauty
Meet ballet dancer Anri Sugiura
Born in Hyogo, Japan, Anri Sugiura trained at Seiko Kuramoto Ballet School from 2007 to 2016, followed by Académie de danse Princesse Grace in Monaco from 2016 to 2021. Anri was previously at Semperoper Ballett Dresden from 2021 to 2024, before joining English National Ballet in 2024. She was promoted to First Artist in 2025, and her repertoire includes Ice Queen in Watkin and Smith’s Nutcracker.
Early days
I took up ballet when I was seven, after my sister’s dance teacher spotted my talent.I wasn’t sure about ballet at first, probably because I’m naturally a really shy person and I didn’t like to dance in front of everyone. But then I began to try and find my best way of dancing with my teacher, and I started to like ballet. After a year, I had fallen in love with it – especially the beauty, discipline and process of bringing a dance to life.
There was no point where I thought, ‘Oh, I can be a professional dancer’. There is no perfection in this job, so I just worked hard, tried to be better every single day, and I ended up here. English National Ballet (ENB) is famous all over the world, so I knew of them as a kid. The idea of dancing for them was like a dream, so becoming part of the company has been great. Something I love about the company is there are five ballet masters, all of whom know contemporary, classical and neoclassical ballet, so they each offer different types of ideas and corrections.
When you are in the rehearsal space and something isn’t working, it’s like a magical moment when the teacher tells you to try a little thing and it works. I love the connection and bond between a ballet master and a dancer in training, and that trust is then within you when you perform on stage so you can give your all to an audience.
It was an honour to be named as an Emerging Dancer for ENB this year. When you are part of a company’s core, you never really get to experience dancing a main role, but I got the chance to work on two different roles over four months as part of the Emerging Dancer programme, including the role of Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. Having the opportunity to work with different coaches and take on so much information that you don’t normally get to do when you’re part of a company was incredible.
Training
On a performance day, I like to do a little warm-up of gentle movement, stretching and massage before we do a 90-minute class that starts with basic moves like pliés and leg lifts at the barre, followed by a warm-up for the feet, exercises for balance and turning, and then jumping exercises, starting with small jumps, then one leg jumps and then big jumps.
After that, we have a pre-show rehearsal that lasts around five hours, although we obviously get a one-hour lunch break and 10-minute breaks every 90 minutes. Next, after a two-hour break, we’ll do a little warm-up to engage the core, abs and arms, and do a smaller version of the morning’s class to be perfectly ready for the performance.
Personally, I feel my weakness is jumping. I also think I struggle a bit with pointe work – where you support your entire body weight on the tips of your toes – but I work hard to get better. I’ve had great flexibility since I was a kid, and I have good proportion because I am quite tall with nice legs and feet. But I think my biggest strength is consistency because, while I wouldn’t say I’m the best dancer, I always keep practising.
Recovery
I get one and a half days off over the weekend, and I like to sleep, eat and not do anything physical to help me recover on my rest days. I try to get seven or eight hours of sleep a night, and I’m really lucky because I’m someone who goes to sleep in seconds. I live with my boyfriend, and we love to cook Japanese food together when we have time because it’s a good way not to think about ballet.
I cook my own lunches to take to training. I eat whatever I feel my body needs to perform well and recover properly, which will often include some chocolate or honey.
Being on pointe can be really hard for the feet, so I have an ice bath up to my knees every day because it feels cold and refreshing once you get in. After practice, I also do a good 30 minutes of foam rolling and stretching or yoga to reset myself physically and mentally.
Goals
While I think it’s really important to have an idea of how you want to be as an artist and dancer and a person, I don’t really set future goals. I think being in the present and working on your craft every single day is going to bring you to somewhere.
I am very excited to be dancing as the Lilac Fairy in the forthcoming production of The Sleeping Beauty because it’s such a beautiful role. I’ve danced it previously but, this time it’s going to be at The Royal Albert Hall, which is a huge stage and a beautiful theatre.
People come to see us for the storytelling, music and beautiful dancing, and my favourite thing is being able to share a moment with the audience and provide a little shine, so they feel brighter after watching the show.
English National Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty will be running from Thursday 25 June to Sunday 28 June at The Royal Albert Hall. Final tickets are available at www.royalalberthall.com
