Ricardo Graziano

Ricardo started his dance studies when he was 8 years old in his hometown at the "Marcela Campos Escola de Bailados" where he danced until he was 16. During this time frame Ricardo won awards in major dance festivals in the country, including 1st Place in the "Festival de Joinville", 1st Place in the "Festival de Ribeirão Preto", 1st Place in the "Grand Prix Brasil" and 3rd Place in the "Seminário Internacional de Dança de Brasília". In the latter, Ricardo was also awarded with a scholarship to the "Academie des Tanzes" in Mannheim, Germany, where he studied for 2 years. While in Germany Ricardo also got to perform as an apprentice with the "Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe".
In 2003 Ricardo made his way to the United States and joined Tulsa Ballet as Corps de Ballet. During his 5 years with Tulsa ballet Ricardo got promoted to Demi-Soloist and got to perform many roles in different ballets such as Jewels in Sleeping Beauty, Mouse King in Nutcracker, Rothbart in Swan Lake, the Ugly Stepsisters in Cinderella, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. While in Tulsa Ricardo also got to perform works by Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Val Caniparoli, Ben Stevenson, Twyla Tharp, McMillan, Paul Taylor, Hans van Manen, Forsythe, Ma Cong and many others.
In 2007 Ricardo was awarded the Lefkowitz Award for Artistic Achievement in the 9th New York International Ballet Competition. Two years later he was invited to go back and dance as a guest.
In 2010 Ricardo joined Sarasota Ballet of Florida as a Soloist and is now a Principal Dancer. Joining Sarasota Ballet has also added many important ballets to his resume, such as Christopher Wheeldon's The American, Balanchine's Divertimento No. 15 and The Prodigal Son, Frederick Ashton's Les Rendesvouz, Dame Ninette's The Rake's Progress, Yuri Possokhov's Firebird, among many others.

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