Maria Riccetto - Biography

Biography

Ms. Riccetto was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and began studying ballet at the Uruguay National Ballet School in 1990. She was hired as a professional dancer in 1995 by the national ballet company, S.O.D.R.E, dancing pieces by Rodolfo Lastra, Ivan Tenorio, Jaime Pintos, and others. In 1998, Riccetto was named "Revelation of the Year" by Uruguayan dance critic Washington Roldan, and received the Elena Smirnova Prize from Enrique Honorio Destaville, an Argentine ballet reviewer. Later that year she attended the North Carolina School of the Arts on a full scholarship. There she performed in Grand Pas Romantique (choreographed and staged by Fernando Bujones) and Intermezzo (choreographed by Eliot Feld).

She also danced the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. In 1999, when the production was performed at the Hungarian National Academy, Ms. Riccetto was invited to Budapest to reprise her role as the Sugar Plum Fairy, dancing with Gabor Szigeti, a soloist with the Hungarian National Ballet. Riccetto was as a guest artist at the 25th Anniversary Gala for the Uruguay National Ballet School and was invited by that country's First Lady to dance in Montevideo and Punta Del Este. In August 1999, Riccetto joined American Ballet Theatre's corps de ballet and three years later she was promoted to soloist.

Riccetto was the "dance double" for Mila Kunis in the 2010 film Black Swan, a psychological thriller about ballet dancers in New York City.