Watch 19-Year-Old Alessandra Ferri Dance with 52-Year-Old Alessandra Ferri
We know you’re obsessed with extraordinary ballerina Alessandra Ferri—because EVERYONE is obsessed with extraordinary ballerina Alessandra Ferri. (Non-bunhead friends: Even if the name doesn’t ring a bell, the feet definitely will.) Ferri’s brilliant artistry has been inspiring dancers ever since she was named the Royal Ballet’s youngest-ever principal dancer at age 19.
That was in 1983. Today, Ferri is 52—and more inspiring than ever. Though she officially retired in 2013, Ferri recently returned to the stage, showing off still-solid technique (pointework included) and her singularly intoxicating perfume. This June, she’ll even dance Juliet in Kenneth Macmillan’s Romeo and Juliet—one of her signature roles—with American Ballet Theatre. She’s pretty much the only 52-year-old who can make a convincing Shakespearian teenager.
British makeup company Boots just put out an ad that highlights Ferri’s impossible youthfulness in a jaw-dropping way: It has her dancing alongside a hologram of her baby self. And here’s the thing: “Now” Ferri? She’s even more luminous than “Then” Ferri.
It’s #MotivationMonday amazingness, and come Wednesday it’ll be #WCW everything, and on Thursday we’ll watch it again because it’s also kind of #TBT perfection. But no hashtag is going to do this thing justice. Just watch it:
