Natalia Osipova to Perform La Sylphide on Monday evening, June 15;
Maria Riccetto to Perform Giselle at Matinee on Saturday, June 13

American Ballet Theatre has announced cast changes due to an ankle injury to Principal Dancer Xiomara Reyes. Guest Artist Natalia Osipova will replace Ms. Reyes in the title role in La Sylphide on Monday evening, June 15 and ABT Soloist Maria Riccetto will replace Ms. Reyes in the title role of Giselle at the matinee performance on Saturday, June 13.

Guest Artist Natalia Osipova was born in Moscow and trained at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. In 2004, she joined the corps de ballet of the Bolshoi Ballet and was promoted to first soloist in January 2008 and to leading soloist in October 2008. Her repertoire with the Bolshoi includes Gamzatti in La Bayadère, Medora in Le Corsaire, Kitri in Don Quixote, Jeanne in the Flames of Paris, Aspicia in The Pharaoh’s Daughter, the Spanish Bride in Swan Lake, title roles in Coppelia, Giselle, Paquita and La Sylphide, as well as soloist roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade and Symphony in C, Alexei Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons, and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. Ms. Osipova’s awards include the Grand Prize at the Prix de Luxembourg International Ballet Competition in 2003, the Golden Mask (2007) for her performance in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, the Golden Mask (2008) for her performance in La Sylphide and the Benois de la Danse Award as Best Female Dancer (2008). The 2009 Spring season marks Ms. Osipova’s first appearance with American Ballet Theatre.

A native of Montevideo, Uruguay, Maria Riccetto began her ballet studies in 1990 at the Uruguay National Ballet School. In 1995, she was hired as an apprentice by the national ballet company, S.O.D.R.E. In 1998, Ms. Riccetto received a full scholarship at the North Carolina School of the Arts. She joined American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet in August 1999 and was promoted to Soloist in 2002. Her repertory with ABT includes Calliope in Apollo, first and third Shades in La Bayadère, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Mercedes, Amour and a flower girl in Don Quixote, the peasant pas de deux and Zulma in Giselle, Clara in The Nutcracker, Lilac Fairy and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, the Young Girl in Le Spectre de la Rose, Natalia in On the Dneiper, the pas de trois in Swan Lake, the Mazurka and Prelude in Les Sylphides and roles in Baker’s Dozen, Brief Fling, Company B, In The Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Sinfonietta, Symphonic Variations and George Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina, Mozartiana, Symphonie Concertante, Symphony in C and Theme and Variations. She created a leading role in Benjamin Millepied’s From Here On Out and debuted in the title role of Giselle in February 2009.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2009 Metropolitan Opera House season, priced $19-$130, are available online, at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City.

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