Erica Cornejo was born in Mercedes, San Luis, Argentina, and received her early ballet training at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. At age 14, she won the Gold Medal at the Second International Ballet Competition in Argentina and was invited by Julio Bocca to join Ballet Argentino, where she became one of the company’s leading dancers and frequent partner to Bocca in principal roles.
Honored as a Messenger of Peace by UNESCO, Ms. Cornejo also received a Medal of Honor from the U.S. chapter of the Instituto Belgraniano in recognition of her contributions to Argentine culture and the arts. In 1998, she and her brother, Herman Cornejo, were invited to perform at a special tribute held at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York honoring Presidents Bill Clinton and Carlos Menem. That same year, she joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company, quickly rising to the main company, where she was promoted to Soloist in 2002.
During her years with ABT, Ms. Cornejo was featured on the covers of Pointe Magazine and Dance Magazine, and in 2005, she performed at the White House for President George W. Bush.
In 2006 Ms. Cornejo was featured on ABT's Swan Lake, an Emmy Awarded film production, dancing "Pas de Trois" alongside Principal Dancers Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo.
In August of 2006, she joined Boston Ballet as a Principal Dancer, where she performed until her retirement in 2017. Ms Cornejo was honored with the John W. Humphrey Medal of Honor for her outstanding career and artistic contribution to Boston Ballet. Throughout her distinguished career, Ms. Cornejo created leading roles in Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison and Lar Lubovitch’s …Smile with My Heart, among others. Her international appearances include performances with Corella and Star of American Ballet and gala invitations across the globe — in Italy, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Portugal, Japan, Korea, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil, Canada, and Russia. Ms Cornejo was a guest Artist at the Gala of Latins Starts celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dorothy Chandler's pavilion in Los Angeles, California.
Her extensive repertoire spans classical, neoclassical, and contemporary works, including leading roles in ballets by Oscar Araiz, Agnes De Mille, Balanchine, Bournonville, Val Caniparoli, Cranko, C.Wheeldon, Nureyev, Fokine, Tudor, Forsythe, Tharp, Kylián, Neumeier, van Manen, Robbins, Elo, and Morris, among others.
Following her stage career, Ms. Cornejo has devoted herself to teaching and coaching. She has served on faculty for Boston Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, Neglia Ballet, and Colorado Ballet Academy Summer Programs, and has been a guest teacher and coach for numerous institutions worldwide.
She has served as an adjudicator of scholarship for Westchester Ballet Comapny NY. Ms Cornejo is a certified instructor in the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum (Primary through Level III) and a certified teacher in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) for Junior, Senior, and Advanced levels.
Ms. Cornejo is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of INTEGRARTE: Dance Art Movement Center, established in Boston, and currently serves as Principal of the Pre-Professional Division at Colorado Ballet Academy in Denver, Colorado.
She is married to former Boston Ballet Principal Dancer Carlos Molina and is the sister of Herman Cornejo, Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre.