Alessandra Ferri, now retired, was one of the great ballerinas of our time. She was 21 when she danced Juliet in this 1984 production with the Royal Ballet, and she was an extraordinarily convincing 14-year-old, both looking and acting the part. Her Romeo, Wayne Eagling, was a handsome young man and an excellent partner. But this performance is Ferri's most of all. Prokofiev's music and Kenneth MacMillan's choreography have never been better served. I've seen this Romeo and Juliet done by other ballet companies and by other excellent prima ballerinas. But I've never seen a Juliet who was more playful in the opening scene, more persuasive as a carefree child, more deeply and convincingly in love, more recalcitrant (after having married Romeo) in refusing her parents' demands that she marry Paris, more conflicted before she swallows the potion that will render her apparently lifeless, and more tragic when she awakes to find Romeo dead in the crypt. In addition, she really does seem lighter than air as she dances. It is an achievement lovingly recorded by the BBC and now available on DVD. The one advantage -- the only advantage -- of watching ballet on DVD is the closeups of the principals, and Ferri's face, as she passes through the events recorded in the ballet, is as sensitive to the moods as her body and her dancing. Wondrous!
