Nicole Graniero of New York City is in her sixth season with The Washington Ballet. Here, she talks about returning to the studio during COVID-19 and after becoming a first-time mom. Watch the video!
Nicole studied at Studio Maestro, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, and summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre and Stiefel and Stars and Chautauqua Ballet Festival. In 2004, Graniero joined American Ballet Theatre as a Studio Company member, then after two seasons was promoted to a full company member in 2006. She was sponsored by the Georgia Hiden Charitable Foundation and danced many featured roles in ballets choreographed by Ashton, Balanchine, Kudelka, Kylián, Millepied, Morris, Petipa, Ratmansky, Taylor, Tharp, and Tippet.
Though she joined The Washington Ballet in 2015, she still continues to dance with American Ballet Theatre as a guest artist. Graniero has performed with Craig Salstein’s Intermezzo Dance Company; Benjamin Millepied’s Danse Concertantes; Stiefel and Stars; Tom Gold Dance as well as in galas all over the world. She was featured in the 2014 short film On a Grass Field. Her repertoire with The Washington Ballet includes principal roles in Ashton’s The Dream, Symphonic Variations, Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Theme and Variations, Serenade, Fokine’s Les Sylphides, Petipa’s Le Corsaire, Webre’s The Nutcracker, and featured roles in works by Mauro de Candia, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Edwaard Liang, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Trey McIntyre, and Septime Webre.
Header photos by Procopio Photography.