BIOGRAPHY

Jonathan Batista started his training at the UNICOM social project in the City of God Slums. 

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Batista was first seen by Edward Villella (Former Founder & Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet) and then by Jane Hackett (Former School Director at English National Ballet School) who offered him a full scholarship to English National Ballet School in London, UK. Batista also attended The Royal Ballet School.

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Upon his Graduation in 2011 Batista went on to perform with major ballet companies such as English National Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Miami City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and Oklahoma City Ballet.

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Batista has worked and performed Soloist & Principal Roles in many of the most renowned choreographers such as Helen Pickett, Val Caniparoli, Septime Webre, Jiri Kylian, Ma Cong, Jennifer Archibald, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Marcelo Gomez, John Neumeier, Christopher Wheeldon, Liam Scarlett, Jorma Ello, William Forsythe and more.

Batista's rep includes Principal and Solo Roles by choreographers such as Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, August Bournonville, Marius Petipa, Rudolph Nureyev, Maurice Bejart, Harald Lander, Robert Joffrey, and more.

Batista has also performed as a Guest in Galas and events in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England, Switzerland & The United States.

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During 2017-2021 Batista performed with Oklahoma City Ballet as a Principal Dancer; With the company, Batista created two World Premieres, winning Best Choreography of the Year by The National Destined 2 Dancer Award, and in 2021 he won the Art Culture & Music Award by The TAF AWARD FOUNDATION for his contributions in representation, activism, work and contributions to the dance community in Oklahoma.

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In 2021, Batista was invited to join Pacific Northwest Ballet by its Artistic Director Peter Boal. Throughout the season he excelled in Principal and featured roles from the classical through contemporary repertoire, conquering the Seattle audience with a powerful and yet newborn partnership with Principal Dancer Angelica Generosa. 

In September 2022, Jonathan was promoted to Principal Dancer, making history as the First Black Principal Dancer in the 50 years history of Pacific Northwest Ballet.