Ferri to dance in ABT's Romeo and Juliet at 2016 Met season

[Mme. Hermine]

And a circa 47 year old Juliet here - (thanks Josette!)

[Josette]

Fonteyn was born on May 18, 1919, and the filmed Romeo and Juliet with The Royal Ballet was released in 1966. If the pas de deux above is from the 1966 film, she would be 46 or 47 when it was filmed.

[aurora]

Ahh the video where McKenzie makes the unintentionally amusing fauxpas in the final act!!!

This was the height of hilarity to me as a child...

[Mme. Hermine]

I felt so badly for him....and I can't imagine his Juliet was very pleased.

[fondoffouettes]

Does anyone know if she's wearing different pointe shoes these days? Gaynor Mindens? I remember her feet essentially being shaped like bananas. Here they look much more cone-like:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/28/alessandra-ferri-52-out-dance-woolf-works#img-1

[volcanohunter]

While Ferri was dancing with ABT she was tearing out the shanks of her pointes completely. (I remember a volunteer manning a souvenir table at the Met somewhat cattily explaining to the girls who were admiring her used shoes that this explained "why she never finishes her hops on pointe in Giselle.") Perhaps Ferri is no longer able to rely solely on the strength of her feet and now leaves part of the shank intact.

[Fraildove]

Those are not Gaynors, they are much too high a profile, and look like really knew, unbroken in Freeds. And as far as ripping out the whole shank, I had a teacher who dance with her who told us she half-shanked her shoes, meaning she cut half the shank out. I cannot imagine her being able to dance with no shank, especially given how flexible her feet are. Usually that type of foot needs a very hard shank. If she actually did dance shankless, it's miraculous she can even walk, much less dance at 52.

[volcanohunter]

I would have thought so too, but unlike the other used pointes ABT was selling in those days, Ferri's really had no shank at all. Possibly there were certain ballets in which she opted to wear an extremely soft shoe. And there's no reason to think she spent her entire career going shankless. In any case, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she were wearing a harder shoe these days.