JESSICA FERRETTI originally from Port Chester, New York, started her dance training at Westchester Dance Academy. She graduated magna cum laude in 2019 from Marymount Manhattan College, where she performed works by Larry Keigwin, Jessica Lang, Michael Thomas, Loni Landon, Nancy Lushington, Pedro Ruiz, Chase Brock and Tito Del Saz. She attended the Paul Taylor Summer Intensives in 2016 and 2018 and the Martha Graham Intensive in 2017. She joined Taylor 2 in fall 2019. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Summer 2021.
“I started dancing at three. Taylor alumna Denise Hurlin is like my second mom; I heard about Paul Taylor throughout my life. During college I saw the Company do a tech rehearsal of Also Playing– they took the comedy very seriously, which was the funniest part. I immediately enrolled in the Summer Intensive.”
Audition: “It was on college graduation day; I figured I’d get cut in time to attend the ceremony but I kept moving on.”
Taylor’s works: “Brilliant. Groundbreaking. Ineffable.”
Specialty dish: “Pasta primavera.”
Favorite food: “Sushi 24/7.”
Hometown feature: “It has a million restaurants and ethnically it’s very diverse.”
Favorite music: “Disco. Show tunes.”
Great place: “Anywhere there’s a beach.”
Fun fact: “If I weren’t a dancer I would be a florist!”
Jessica Ferretti and Shawn Lesniak in Roses, photo by Ron Thiele
