Born in Rome, Cristina Saso started her training at Balletto di Roma. At fourteen years old, competing in Isola di Capri, she was awarded by Carla Fracci a scholarship at the renowned Princess Grace Academy of Monte-Carlo directed by Marika Besobrasova. She continued her training at the Ballet School Heinz Bosl Stiftung with Konstanze Vernon in Munich.
Her professional career started at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma under the direction of Vladimir Vassiliev and she later joined the Teatro di San Carlo. During the nine years spent in Naples, she danced soloist and principal roles under the directions of Elisabetta Terabust and Luciano Cannito.
Following a one-year season with the Tulsa Ballet in the USA, she got an offer to sign a lifelong contract as a ballerina with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. There, she worked with several directors such as Carla Fracci, Misha Van Hoecke and Eleonora Abbagnato.
Her repertoire included all the leads in classical ballets such as different productions of Giselle (Carla Fracci, Ricardo Nunez, Patricia Ruanne, Patrice Bart), The Nutcracker (Jean-Yves Lormeau, Amedeo Amodio, Sasha Mukhamedov, Luciano Cannito, Derek Deane), Romeo and Juliet (Kenneth MacMillan, John Cranko, Patrice Bart), Swan Lake (Ricardo Nunez, Galina Samsova, Christopher Wheeldon, Benjamin Pech, Patrice Bart) and (Raymonda (Loris Gai, Rudolf Nureyev).
She also danced a large repertoire of masters such as George Balanchine (Serenade, Walpurgisnacht, Who Cares, La Valse, La Chatte, Le Bal), Roland Petit (Pink Floyd Ballet, Duke Ellington Ballet, L’Arlesienne, Carmen, Coppelia) and other various pieces by Alvin Ailey (The River), Frederick Ashton (Rhapsody, Thais), Youri Vamos (Carmina Burana), Martha Graham (Diversion of Angels), Paul Chalmer (La Gitana, La Vestale), Hans van Manen (Grosse Fugue), Renato Zanella (Alles Waltzer), Peer Gynt), Luciano Cannito (Dal Faust di Goethe), Maurizio Wainrot (A Streetcar named Desire) and José Limon (The Moor’s Pavane). From 2018 to 2020, she held the position of ballet mistress/assistant for most of the company’s productions.
Cristina Saso is a Resident Teacher/Ballet Mistress at ESB and has served as Talent Scout of the school since 2019. She travels to scout and teach master classes in Europe, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.