Alessandra Ferri

It is the need to share that has inspired me to do this. I want to pass on the extensive experience I have gained all over the world with other wonderful companies, great choreographers and talented partners. I belong to the last generation to have worked with the masters who wrote the history of ballet:

Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, Roland Petit, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp and others. Knowing what these artists wanted to achieve with their ballets is important in order to convey information to dancers that would otherwise be lost. Now is the right time for me, I feel comfortable with the knowledge I have. It was a surprise when I was asked to lead the Vienna State Ballet, a company with which I had no connection in the past.

But it is a first-class ensemble and has all the prerequisites to be one of the leading companies in the world. The fact that I have no history here gives me the freedom to be objective. There is no personal attachment to anything. It's a challenge not knowing the company, the opera house and the city from the inside, but it's very exciting.

Vienna is an amazing cultural center, a very elegant city with an incredible history that is still present. When you walk around Vienna, you can feel that it is part of the present and the future. The Vienna State Opera is great, as is the orchestra. I think the company should reflect that. The Vienna State Ballet also has an incredible history, it is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. These roots are essential, they make the tree grow. It is important to respect them and to represent the glamor and elegance of the city, even when turning to new works. That should be the identity of the Vienna State Ballet.

There were a number of aspects that kept me busy. First and foremost, it was about understanding what this company is, namely a great classical company rooted in the past, the present and the future. I want to ask what classical ballet is today, which does not mean rejecting the classical vocabulary, but evolving with it and manifesting it in the now. So the choreographers I have chosen are contemporary choreographers who can create for a classical dancer: Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, Twyla Tharp.

It is important to keep classical ballet alive in today's world. Our repertoire ranges from Elena Chernishova's Giselle to these artists and everything in between. We feature Roland Petit, Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton... and present the entire spectrum of the development of classical ballet.

George Balanchine once said: "I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance." I am looking for dancers who are in touch with their soul, who have a deep desire to dance, who have the courage to look inside themselves and show who they are. I want to lead to the true

It is a contemporary classical ballet by one of today's most important choreographers. Kallirhoe will be a European premiere, a ballet that only exists in Vienna, and a beautiful spectacle for our audience. The work is a powerful but elegant piece that suits the company very well. It is a "showcase" for the dancers. Alexei Ratmansky is not only a great choreographer, but also an excellent teacher. He can get the dancers moving in a way that I really love. Working with someone who knows so much about dance is very important for the company.

They have expanded classical ballet and taken it in new directions. Twyla Tharp was the first to open this door with her iconic work In the Upper Room. For the first time, she brought two different worlds together: the modern and the classical. This piece has had a lasting impact on the history of ballet. Justin Peck and Wayne McGregor found their style in very different ways. They created their own voice and moved into different areas.

Justin Peck works on Broadway, on movies, he has a very original American language. Heatscape is one of his most classic works. Wayne McGregor has taken classical ballet to the extreme and broken the rules. Yugen shows a different side of him, is very lyrical, moving and fragile. Wayne McGregor can explore the true depth of an emotion in an abstract way. I love that. The music for all three choreographies is also wonderful.

Vienna is extremely culturally stimulating. Everywhere you go, you find inspiration. I am very open to dialogs between different art forms. Art is art. I don't like to put everything in its own box, in its own compartment. Art is a sensual experience, it is visual, it is music, it is space. I have always been inspired by other arts. Sometimes when I give a coaching session, I start describing a painting. Inspiration comes from the unexpected.

A good gala is a festive event, but its planning is complex. It must combine fun and glamor with an approach to art. We perform two great ballets at our gala: Frederick Ashton's Rhapsody, to whom this season's gala is dedicated, and Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour, a breathtakingly beautiful and elegant ballet.

The costumes for Wheeldon's choreography are inspired by Gustav Klimt, paying homage to the city and Vienna's cultural scene. We will have a lot of fun with the other choreographies - both the dancers and the audience.

When the festival, which celebrates the 200th anniversary of Johann Strauss' birth in 2025, suggested this project to me, I thought of an artist who could do something surprising, who could take an idea and develop it in a way that we don't expect. Robert Binet is an incredibly intelligent person, curious and open.

The ballet academy is very important to me for many reasons. The most obvious one is that it trains dancers for the company. Patrick Armand, the new director of the Ballet Academy, has the same vision and speaks my artistic language. For me, it is important that we are on the same artistic and idealistic path, namely to create a style that emerges from the use of classical ballet technique. I want to train dancers who can work internationally.

Nowadays everyone goes everywhere, students need to be prepared to have access to companies all over the world. I want them to learn to be disciplined, to be committed, because that is the path to freedom. Without being able to develop a passion, you are not free. All this is not done through rigor, but by teaching them the love of quality, the appreciation of art, the mastery of their own art, their own grace. It is a challenge to learn to be courageous, but it is a great gain and an important message that we will pass on in a very loving and nurturing environment.

I started dancing because of the music. I wanted to be the music and merge with it. That inspired me to become a dancer. It was my way of living through the music. Every interpretation of a ballet comes from the music. Music is everything. The ballet is a part of this incredible opera house and I would love to build relationships and collaborate. We share a house and that should be natural.