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By Vivien Schweitzer
20 Oct 2006
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| Alessandra Ferri as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with American Ballet Theatre. |
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| photo by Fabrizio Ferri |
After a 22-year-career as principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Alessandra Ferri has decided to retire from the company. Her final performance with ABT is scheduled for June 23, 2007, when she will dance the title role in Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet at the Metropolitan Opera House, with guest artist Roberto Bolle as Romeo.
Ferri, now 43, joined ABT as a principal dancer in 1985. Her many roles with the company have included Nikiya in La Bayadère, Titania in The Dream, Katherine in Christopher Wheeldon's VIII, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Tatiana in Onegin, Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, the leading role in Les Sylphides and the title roles in Giselle, Anastasia and Manon.
Ferri was born in Milan in 1963 and studied at the Teatro alla Scala until age 15, when she joined the Royal Ballet School. She became a member of the Royal Ballet in 1980 and danced leading roles in The Sleeping Beauty, The Two Pigeons, Swan Lake, and the title roles in Manon and Romeo and Juliet. She originated roles in several Kenneth MacMillan productions and danced Odette in Franco Zeffirelli's Swan Lake in Milan.
Ferri is a permanent guest artist with La Scala (her last performance there is reportedly planned for March 2007) and has also appeared with the Ballet National de Marseille in Roland Petit’s Le Diable Amoreux, which he created for her. Ferri has also appeared with many other international companies.
Ferri has been awarded the Prix de Lausanne (1980) and the Olivier Award (1982) and was named a Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana in 2005.
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