Edson Barbosa

Biography

Edson Barbosa, raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began his training in ballet, jazz, and tap at age 10 with Patricia Marques at Grupo Cultural de Dança, Ilha. He was named Best Male Dancer at the 2012 Festival de Dança de Joinville — the world’s largest dance competition by number of participants, as recognized by Guinness World Records. A decorated competitor, Barbosa was a two-time Top 12 finalist at Youth America Grand Prix, a Top 6 finalist at the Beijing International Ballet Invitational. 

In 2012, he won a top prize at the Prix de Lausanne, where he was named Best Male Dancer of the competition’s 40th edition. He joined San Francisco Ballet School on scholarship under Patrick Armand and trained in works by Christopher Wheeldon, Helgi Tomasson, Val Caniparoli, Myles Thatcher, and Wayne McGregor. While at San Francisco Ballet, he performed in Romeo & Juliet at the Kennedy Center and Cinderella at Lincoln Center, among other classical and contemporary works by Lifar, Cranko, and Possokhov.

Barbosa joined The Joffrey Ballet in 2014 and has since performed an expansive range of soloist and principal roles across classical and contemporary repertory. Highlights include Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet (Pastor), Sea Witch in The Little Mermaid (Neumeier), Basilio in Don Quixote (Possokhov), The Great Impresario in The Nutcracker (Wheeldon), Escamillo in Carmen (Scarlett), Karenin in Anna Karenina (Possokhov), Robbie in The Times Are Racing (Peck), Elegy in Serenade (Balanchine), Lennie in Of Mice and Men (Marston), Saint John in Jane Eyre (Marston) and the Mad Hatter in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Wheeldon). He has also danced leading roles in works by Jiří Kylián, Wayne McGregor, Justin Peck, Alexander Ekman, Gerald Arpino, Stanton Welch, Chanel DaSilva and many others.

Beyond his work as a performer, Barbosa has established himself as a choreographer and educator. His choreography has been featured in the Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet's Winning Works (On the Same Boat), Embarc (Heart Asks for Pleasure, Moody Rhapsody), and International Ballet Greenville (Moody Rhapsody) and the Grand Rapids Summer Festival (Indifferent). He has performed as a guest artist with Grand Rapids Ballet, Michigan Ballet Theater, and Monarch Dance Academy, Westside Ballet and Danzamérica Opening Ceremony in Argentina. He served as a Guest Judge at the Prix de Lausanne in 2024. His choreographic voice continues to develop alongside a celebrated performance career spanning over a decade with The Joffrey Ballet.