Alessandra Ferri
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Alessandra Ferri (born in 1963) is a Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theater in New York and permanent guest artist with the La Scala Ballet in Milan. Having gained immense critical acclaim worldwide, she is one of the most famous ballerinas of the late twentieth century.
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 a 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 roles in Roland Petit's Carmen and 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 and the title role of Kenneth MacMillan's Manon with the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre.
[edit] Ballets performed with London's Royal Ballet
- Napoli Divertissements (first performances)
- Illuminations (first performances)
- Return to the Strange Land (first performances)
- The Sleeping Beauty
- Afternoon of a Faun
- The Two Pigeons
- Swan Lake
- Mayerling
- Manon (title role)
- Romeo and Juliet (as Juliet)
- Voluntaries
- Konservatoriet
- Cinderella
- La Bayadère
- Les Biches
- Kenneth MacMillan's Seven Deadly Sins (in the dancing role of Anna)
- Franco Zeffirelli's Swan Lake (as Odette)
- Carmen (title role, with the London Festival Ballet {now the English National 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 Tatiana)
- Ashton's Birthday Offering
- 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 (Odette)
- Baryshnikov's The Nutcracker (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)
- 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 (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
[edit] Ballets performed with La Scala Ballet
- 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)
[edit] Video recordings
- Romeo and Juliet As Juliet, with Angel Corella (La Scala Ballet - 2000)
- Romeo & Juliet Pas de Deux with Julio Bocca (American Ballet Theatre) on a mixed bill DVD titled American Ballet Theatre Now - Variety and Virtuosity (1996)
- Sir Frederick Ashton's The Dream As Tatiana, with Ethan Stiefel and Herman Cornejo, (American Ballet Theatre - 2003)
- Sir Kenneth MacMillan's - Romeo and Juliet, with Wayne Eagling, (London's Royal Ballet - 1984)
- The film Dancers - 1987 with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Leslie Browne, Julie Kent, and Tommy Rall (VHS Tape Only)
- Giselle In the title role, with Massimo Murru La Scala Ballet (VHS tape Only)
- Roland Petit's La Chauve-Souris in lead role with Massimo Murru (La Scala Ballet)
