Edson Barbosa

Edson Barbosa was raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and began his training in ballet, jazz, and tap at age 10 at Grupo Cultural de Dança, Ilha, with Patricia Marques. He was voted Best Male Dancer at the Festival de Danca de Joinville in 2012 — the largest dance competition by number of dancers, as documented by Guinness World Records. He received a full scholarship to study at the Miami City Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Washington Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, and the académie Princess Grace. He was also a Top 12 finalist at the Youth American Grand Prix in New York in 2010 and 2012, Top 6 finalist at the Beijing International Ballet Invitational for Dance Schools in China and performed at the Opening Ceremony as a guest artist at the Danzamerica in Argentina.

Barbosa was a Prize Winner at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, where he was voted the best male dancer of the 40th edition in 2012, receiving a scholarship to be a trainee at the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Patrick Armand.

In 2014 Barbosa joined The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago and has been performing roles like “Basilio” in Possokhov’s Don Quixote, “The Sea Witch” in Neumeier’s Little Mermaid, “The Great Impresario” in Wheeldon’s Nutcracker, Tybalt in Krystof’s Romeo and Juliet, Hilarion in D’Avila’s Giselle, among others.