When Alessandra Ferri took over as artistic director of the Vienna State Ballet, she stepped into the role with a very clear vision. She knows, instinctively, what a company should be and works, with complete discipline, to make it so. Having danced for over forty years at the highest level—Royal Ballet principal at nineteen, La Scala’s Prima Ballerina Assoluta, two Olivier Awards, thousands of performances across every major stage in the world—she brings to the directorial role her experience and a philosophy: that technique is the foundation, not the goal; that fragility is a strength; and that ballet’s purpose, now more than ever, is to bring beauty into a world that badly needs it.
As the new artistic director of the Vienna State Ballet, Alessandra Ferri is trying to give younger dancers the courage to be exactly who they are. In this interview, she reflects on the unexpected realities of leading a major company, the risks of contemporary ballet, and what it feels like to tap into something higher than yourself in front of an audience.
hube: For someone who has never followed strategies, how do you approach the very strategic work of running a major ballet company?
Alessandra Ferri: It’s not that I don’t have a strategy—I just don’t have one for my life. I don’t plan it. Some people define their next goal and know exactly what they want. I let things come, and I always feel if something interests me or not.
I have a vision about how I want to run the company and how I want it to be. Then I organise the work accordingly, with a good team behind me to accomplish what I need to. That’s what I mean by not having a strategy. Having been a dancer and a director, I know that you can only have a career in these fields if you are extremely disciplined and focused. I have plenty of determination, focus, and discipline. I practised it all my life—over forty years of career and school—and it’s a part of my strategy.
h: Leading a company is a fundamentally different act from dancing in one. What has been the most unexpected thing about being on the other side?
AF: When you’re a dancer—particularly a principal dancer—you have to take very good care of yourself. Your whole focus is inward: keeping yourself in shape, looking after your body, which is your instrument. The whole day is dedicated to one’s talent and trying to make it flourish. Now, however, I have to do it for other dancers, trying to understand them and their psychology. Each person is different, so working with them and for them is a unique challenge.
What was unexpected was all the work behind the scenes, everything that involves productions and PR. However, there’s a whole other aspect that wasn’t surprising, because I was a dancer and lived in this world since I was ten years old in different theatres, situations, and companies. I produced my own things, and I was the director at the Spoleto Festival in Italy, where I did the programming. Not everything was new. The people were new because I didn’t know who I would work with. But there are no aspects that I have never encountered in my career. The focus has shifted slightly, but it has remained within the same world.
