Alessandra Ferri

Born in Milan, Alessandra Ferri trained at the Teatro alla Scala and The Royal Ballet School. A Prix de Lausanne  winner, she joined The Royal Ballet in 1980 and was promoted to Principal in 1983. She gave memorable interpretations of many roles in Kenneth MacMillan ballets, including in Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Mayerling and Different Drummer. In 1985, Mikhail Baryshnikov invited her to join American Ballet Theatre, where she danced as a principal until 2007 and formed a famed dance partnership with Julio Bocca. She was also a principal with Teatro alla Scala, 1992-2007. She has worked with Frederick Ashton, Jerome Robbins, Antony Tudor, Roland Petit, Jiří Kylián, John Neumeier, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp and Wayne McGregor, among others. She won the Benois de la Danse and received the Cavaliere della Repubblica Honoris in 2006. She was Director of Dance Programming at Spoleto Festival from 2008-2014. In recent years, performances include The Piano Upstairs (Spoleto, also choreographed), Chéri (Signature Theatre, 2013), Duse (Hamburg Ballet), Marguerite and Armand, Woolf Works (The Royal Ballet), and Afterite (American Ballet Theatre). Recent performances in the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre include TRIO ConcertDance and L’Heure Exquise.