Hello and I hope you're all enjoying wonderful holidays.

For anyone who works in the theater, Christmas is never much of a break.

I've had years of disrupted Christmases - since 1977, when I was 13 and a student at the Royal Ballet School.

I'd been chosen to play the part of a rat in Rudolf Nureyev's production of The Nutcracker.

It was a great honor, but it played havoc with my family's plans for Christmas.

Christmas hasn't gone quite to plan this year for Johan Kobborg who fell and injured himself during rehearsal last week and I'm sorry to have to report that both he and Jonathan Howells won't be dancing this afternoon.

However, we're very lucky to have, in their place, Jonathan Cope as the Prince and Ivan Putrov as the Nutcracker in Sir Peter Wright's staging of this perennial Christmas classic.

This is a view the audience doesn't usually get to see.

It's almost time for curtain up, the stage crew are making final adjustments to the set, dancers are warming up, trying out the tricky bits, or searching, usually in vain, for the perfect pair of shoes.

On the other side of the curtain, the audience - including dozens of excited children - are settling into their seats and waiting for the house lights to dim.

In just a few moments, the conductor, Evgenii Svetlanov, will be making his way down to the pit to lead the orchestra in Tchaikovsky's overture.

So sit back, chocolates at the ready, and enjoy with me a real Christmas treat.

[applause] [Deborah Bull] I hope you enjoyed The Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker as much as the audience here in the theater.

We'll be back for more performances from the Royal Opera House during the coming year, so until then, a happy 2001 to you all.

[applause continues]