By Will Weible for WHAS 11
December 2,2018
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – Annie Honebrink has been with the Louisville Ballet since 2010. As a company dancer, Honebrink has performed in a wide variety of ballets including the Brown-Forman Nutcracker, in which she has danced the part of Marie seven times. This year’s edition of the Brown-Forman Nutcracker will be Honebrink’s eighth time dancing the part of Marie, but an injury from last season has made for a more intense preparation this year. Honebrink took some time out of her busy rehearsal schedule to speak with us about the balancing act of performing one of Louisville Ballet’s most iconic roles. Here’s what she had to say:
PUTTING IN THE WORK This year has taken quite a bit of extra preparation. I broke my foot last season and this will be my first time performing since the injury. In addition to the many hours of rehearsal for the role, I have spent lots of time at KORT for physical therapy, in the pool at Milestone Wellness, on the reformer and on my living room floor with a theraband and other rehab tools. This is my eighth year dancing this role, and every few years I re-read E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker for renewed inspiration—this is one of those years! In some ways I have been preparing for this role since I was a very small child. I used to dance and act out the entire Nutcracker ballet in the living room—complete with costume changes.