It’s just tutu much for her to take.
A retired New York City Ballet ballerina lost a career’s worth of irreplaceable photos, collectibles and recordings — even her ballet slippers — after her Manhattan storage unit was flooded.
Alexandra Ansanelli, 37, who performed for President Jimmy Carter and Prince Charles, sued Manhattan Mini Storage for $1 million after she discovered her ruined stuff.
The West 29th Street unit “was submerged in water . . . completely black,” the dancer recalled. She had to put on gloves and a mask to tackle the moldy mess.
“The smell was so profuse, I couldn’t even open the door,” Ansanelli told The Post. “I am devastated.”
Among her personal treasures were $3,000 worth of ballet shoes; handmade custom ballet costumes from Russia; and rare books, including a dozen signed autobiographies of prima ballerina Natalia Makarova, choreographer Jerome Robbins and others.
There was also a $4,280 Chanel snakeskin shoulder bag; a $2,205 Missoni coat; a $2,328 Valentino gown; dresses from Giorgio Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier, Roberto Cavalli; cashmere sweaters and leather leggings; $1,195 worth of Manolo Blahniks; and Philip Treacy hats.
But it was losing the lifetime of mementos from a career that took her from the New York City Ballet to The Royal Ballet in England that left her “devastated,” Ansanelli told The Post.
“Everything I had ever kept was in there,” she lamented. “Everything in there was one of a kind.”
Among the priceless items were behind-the-scenes photos of dancers like Mikhail Baryshnikov, hundreds of hours of video and audio recordings, including private footage of Robbins and others.
“I was Jerome Robbins’ last muse,” she said, recalling the now-destroyed correspondence she shared with his family.
She had begun renting the unit in August 2016, and got a tip a year later that there had been a leak, according to her lawyer, Allen Lowy.
“Nobody told her the extent of what actually happened,” he noted.
The company gave her a song-and-dance, according to Ansanelli.
“It was very vague,” she said. “I really don’t understand what transpired.”
The company did not respond to a message.
