María José Esquivel Losada grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and began her training at the Ballet School of Stamford. She continued training in the Vaganova Technique at Greenwich Ballet Academy under Yuri Vodolaga, and later at Koltun Ballet Boston under Alexandra Koltun and Alexander Lapshin. She participated in several summer intensives and received the First Place scholarship at the Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensive (2017).

Esquivel was accepted into the Joffrey Academy of Dance (Chicago) Trainee Program in 2016, and after two years was promoted to the Studio Company in 2018. During her time there she enjoyed performing in main company productions of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Giselle, and Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces, as well as originating roles in Claudia Schreier’s First Light for the Winning Works Choreographic Competition. Esquivel joined Atlanta Ballet 2 for the 2019-20 season and later danced as an apprentice from 2020-2022. During her time with Atlanta Ballet, she performed featured roles in Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker and Firebird. Esquivel also performed classical ballets such as Giselle and Paquita.