A Flower Will Be Named After Ballerina Polina Semionova

August 14, 2013

I spent a while trying to think of a cleverer title for this blog. But then I gave up—because the plain facts of this story are awesome/crazy enough to stand on their own.

On August 30 in Berlin’s botanical garden, a rare hybrid of the Rehmannia flower will be named “Polina S.” after ballerina Polina Semionova. The Russian-born Semionova was formerly a principal with the Staatsballett Berlin, but she’s guested with American Ballet Theatre for the past few years, and last year she joined the company full-time as a principal, so we’ve been seeing a lot more of her recently. If you’re not a New Yorker or a Berliner, you probably know Semionova from that gorgeous music video that went viral a few years ago—and her recent ads for Uniqlo. Needless to say, she’s exquisite.

I’m not quite sure why this flower-christening is happening, but I guess in a way it’s natural to name a beautiful flower after a beautiful ballerina. (In fact, there’s already a rose named for iconic prima Anna Pavlova!)

Here are the “Polina S.” flower and Semionova side by side. What do you think?


Photo of Semionova by Stella del Monaco for Bloch