Meet Ballerina-Turned-Model Rachelle di Stasio
The stunning ballerina-turned-model shined in campaigns for Samsung, Under Armour and Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty.
When a lifelong dream has been realized, what’s one to do? Realize another, if you’re Rachelle di Stasio. On Instagram, the striking feats of flexibility sprinkled between runway shots and bikini snaps hint at the first discipline she conquered: ballet.
It didn’t take much of her life for di Stasio to do it—she made her professional debut at just 13 years old in the leading role of the Nashville Ballet’s The Nutcracker. But instead of taking a traineeship with her hometown ballet company the following year, di Stasio set her sights on New York’s American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the world’s most prestigious dance troupes.
“I was emboldened by my ability and belief that I could go further,” she says of the ABT ambitions that led her and her mother on an 800-mile relocation to NYC. “My mom always supported me, which allowed me to always go after my dreams, no matter how big.”
Within two years of the move she had secured a full scholarship in the ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, and at age 18 she was accepted into the ABT’s main company. But by now, di Stasio was also attracting attention from modeling and acting scouts, which tickled two more of her childhood aspirations.
She soon made her international television debut as the principal ballerina in a Samsung commercial and appeared in campaigns for brands like Under Armour and Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty—all while adhering to the ABT’s rigorous practice, travel and performance schedule. It took a physical toll.
“During the ABT’s Metropolitan Opera House season, I got injured,” di Stasio recalls. “I had time to reflect on whether ballet was something I wanted to continue. It wasn’t. I’ve been blessed with many talents and I knew I wasn’t just born to dance.”
Di Stasio left the ABT behind to focus her full attention on acting and modeling. Today, the burgeoning influencer boasts a respectable 100,000 Instagram followers and big-league representation by Innovative Artists and VNY Model Management—no surprise, given her impressive resume and work ethic.
“The same discipline, focus and professionalism that I’ve learned as a dancer, I’ve been able to apply to these professions,” she notes.
As always, her ambitions are boundless. She wants to model for Tom Ford and LaQuan Smith, grace the cover of Maxim, and star alongside Meryl Streep. Our only question: Which dream will she realize first?
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