Alessandra Ferri

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Alessandra Ferri (born in 1963) is an Italian ballerina, dancing as a Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre in New York, Prima Ballerina Assoluta with the La Scala Ballet in Milan, and as an international guest artist. She retired on June 23, 2007 after a 22 year career with ABT, at age 44, with a performance of Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet at the Met. An internationally known dancer, she is widely considered one of the most famous ballerinas of the late twentieth century.

[edit] Career

Alessandra Ferri was born in Milan, Italy, where she studied at the Teatro alla Scala until the age of 15. She then attended the Royal Ballet School, and in 1980 she won one of the three Prix de Lausanne, allowing her to continue studying at the Royal Ballet School on scholarship.

She joined the Royal Ballet in 1980 and she was made a principal dancer in 1984. In 1985 she was invited to join as principal dancer the American Ballet Theater by Mikhail Baryshnikov who was then its artistic director.

Ferri appeared with the Ballet National de Marseille in the summer of 1989, where she danced in Roland Petit's Le Diable Amoureux, which Petit created especially for her. She danced other Petit's ballets such as Coppélia, La Chambre, Le Jeune Homme et la Mort and La Voix Humaine. Her guest appearances have also included dancing the role of Juliet in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet with the National Ballet of Canada, the title role in Roland Petit's Carmen and Esmeralda in Petit's Notre-Dame de Paris with the Paris Opera Ballet, Pierre Lacotte's La Sylphide with the Ballet National de Nancy and The Tokyo Ballet, John Neumeier's A Streetcar Named Desire with the Stuttgart Ballet, John Neumeier's The Lady of the Camellias with the Hamburg Ballet, the title role in Alberto Alonso's Carmen with the National Ballet of Cuba and the title role of Kenneth MacMillan's Manon with the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Ferri danced with the most important male dancers of her generation: Rudolf Nureyev (in Los Angeles for his 50 birthday in 1988 ) Mikhail Baryshnikov ( also in the movie "Dancers" in 1987 ), Anthony Dowell, Patrick Dupond, Peter Schaufuss, Maximiliano Guerra, Laurent Hilaire, Manuel Legris, Julio Bocca ( her favourite ) and Roberto Bolle, which was invited by Ferri for his first time at ABT during her final season.


[edit] Private life

Ferri has two daughters, aged 9 and 5, who joined their mother on stage at her farewell performance.[1]. Their father is the Italian photographer Fabrizio Ferri.

[edit] Roles

[edit] Ballets performed with London's Royal Ballet

Created roles in
  • L'Invitation au Voyage
  • Valley of Shadows (for which she won the 1982 Sir Laurence Olivier Award)
  • Isadora
  • Consort Lessons
  • Different Drummer
  • Chanson

[edit] Ballets performed with American Ballet Theatre

  • MacMillan's Anastasia (title role)
  • Petipa's La Bayadère (as Nikiya)
  • Ashton's The Dream (as Titania)
  • Ashton's Birthday Offering
  • Tudor's Pillar of Fire (as the Youngest Sister)
  • Tudor's Gala Performance (as The French Ballerina)
  • MacMillan's Requiem (created a leading role)
  • DeMille's Fall River Legend (as The Accused)
  • Massine's Gaîté Parisienne (as the Glove Seller)
  • Baryshnikov 's Giselle (title role)
  • Baryshnikov's Don Quixote (as Kitri)
  • Baryshnikov's Swan Lake (as Odette)
  • Baryshnikov's The Nutcracker (as Clara)
  • Hind's The Merry Widow (title role)
  • Tharp 's In the Upper Room (as the Dancer in the red shoes)
  • Tharp's Quartet
  • Balanchine's Stravinsky Violin Concerto (leading role)
  • Balanchine's La Sonnambula (as the Sleepwalker)
  • MacMillan's Manon (title role)
  • Robbins's Other Dances
  • Joffrey's Pas des Déesses (as Marie Taglioni)
  • Feld's At midnight
  • Tudor's Pillar of Fire (as the Youngest Sister)
  • MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet (as Juliet)
  • Kylian's Sinfonietta (featured roles)
  • MacMillan's The Sleeping Beauty (as Princess Florine)
  • Tippet's Some Assembly Required (leading role)
  • Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto (second movement)
  • Bournonville'sLa Sylphide (as the Sylph)
  • Fokine's Les Sylphides (the leading role)
  • Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew (as Katherina)
  • Maillot's In Volo (created a leading role)
  • Petit's pas de deux from Carmen
  • Cranko's pas de deux from Onegin
  • Lubovitch's Othello (her debut and farewell performance as Desdemona on May 24, 2007)

[edit] Ballets performed with La Scala Ballet

  • Zeffirelli/Hightower's Swan Lake (as Odette)
  • MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet (title role)
  • MacMillan's Manon (title role)
  • Petipa's La Bayadère (as Nikiya)
  • Nureyev's The Sleeping Beauty (as Aurora)
  • Nureyev's Cinderella (title role)
  • Shaufuss's La Sylphide (title role)
  • Petit's Carmen (title role)
  • Petit's Notre-Dame de Paris (as Esmeralda)
  • Petit's La Chauve-Souris (as Bella)
  • Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream (as Titania)
  • Balanchine's Tchaikovsky pas de deux
  • Van Hoecke's Le Baiser de la Fée (created a leading role)
  • Forsythe's Quartetto (created a leading role)
  • Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew (as Katherine)
  • Cranko's Onegin (as Tatiana)
  • Bart's Giselle (title role)
  • Ashton's Ondine (title role)
  • Pistoni's La Strada (as Gelsomina)
  • Spoerli's Armide (created a leading role)
  • Spoerli's Europa Riconosciuta (created a leading role)
  • Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias (as Marguerite)

[edit] Video recordings

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ [1]Valerie Gladstone. "Alessandra Ferri" 11 June 2007
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