Monique Meunier To Join American Ballet Theatre As Soloist Maria Riccetto And Gennadi Saveliev Promoted To Soloist

Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes will be promoted to Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre for the 2002-2003 season, it was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

Mr. McKenzie also announced that Monique Meunier of New York City Ballet will join American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist. In addition, ABT corps de ballet members Maria Riccetto and Gennadi Saveliev will be promoted to Soloist. All promotions become effective for the 2002-2003 season.

Gillian Murphy was born in Wimbledon, England and raised in the United States. She received her early ballet training in Belgium and South Carolina. She was a member of the Columbia City Ballet and continued her studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts under the tutelage of Melissa Hayden. At the age of fifteen, she was a finalist at the Jackson International Ballet Competition and was awarded the Prix de Lausanne Espoir the following year. Murphy joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in August 1996 and was the recipient of the Princess Grace Award for dance excellence in 1998. She was promoted to Soloist with ABT in 1999. Her roles with the Company include Gamzatti in La Bayadère, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Myrta in Giselle, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake and leading roles in Symphony in C and Twyla Tharp’s The Elements and Push Comes To Shove.

Marcelo Gomes was born in Manaus, Brazil and began his dance studies at the Helena Lobato and Dalal Achcar Ballet Schools in Rio de Janeiro. He continued his studies at The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida and at the schools of the Paris Opera Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet and Cuballet. A prize winner at Lausanne (Hope Prize, 1996), Gomes joined the corps de ballet of American Ballet Theatre in 1997 and was promoted to Soloist in August 2000. His roles with the Company include Albrecht in Giselle, the Slave in Le Corsaire, Romeo and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Espada in Don Quixote, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and leading roles in Diversion of Angels, Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Symphony in C and Theme and Variations. He created leading roles in Black Tuesday and Clear.

Monique Meunier was born in Los Angeles, California and began her ballet studies at the age of four with Irena Komoskova and later studied with Yvonne Mounsey. In 1998, she received a scholarship to the School of American Ballet and joined the corps de ballet of New York City Ballet in January 1990. She was promoted to Soloist with NYCB in 1997 and to Principal in 1998. Meunier’s repertoire with NYCB has included leading roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, The Four Temperaments, "Rubies" from Jewels, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Western Symphony and Vienna Waltzes; Jerome Robbins’ Dances At A Gathering, The Four Seasons and I’m Old Fashioned; and Peter Martins’ Barber Violin Concerto, The Sleeping Beauty and Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. Meunier originated roles in Peter Martins’ Jeu de Cartes, David Parsons’ Touch and Christopher Wheeldon’s Slavonic Dances.

Maria Riccetto was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and studied at the Uruguay National Ballet School. She danced with the national ballet company, S.O.D.R.E. and received a full scholarship to study at the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1998. Riccetto joined American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet in 1999. Her repertory with the Company includes an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Clara in The Nutcracker, Olga in Onegin and the pas de trois in Swan Lake.

Gennadi Saveliev was born in Moscow and began his ballet studies at the Bolshoi Ballet School. At the age of 18, he joined the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich Company. His professional career also included performances with the Nevada Dance Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, Los Angeles Classical Ballet and the New Jersey Ballet. In 1996, he won the Silver Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition and was a finalist in Nagoya in 1999. Saveliev joined American Ballet Theatre in January 1996. His repertoire with ABT includes Lankendem in Le Corsaire, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle. Saveliev is the founder and artistic director of Youth America Grand Prix, an annual ballet scholarship competition.

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