Joffrey History | Artist Detail | Management
Erica Lynette Edwards joined The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in 2001 after being one of the first dancers in the Arpino Apprentice Program in 2000. Telluride marked her first
performance after becoming a full company member in the summer of 2001.
Prior to joining the Joffrey, Ms. Edwards trained at the Salt Creek Ballet School under the direction of
Patricia Sigurdson where she performed major rules in their pre-professional ballet company. Ms. Edwards received additional training by attending summer programs at the School of American Ballet, San Francisco
Ballet and Bryant Ballet on merit scholarships, the American Ballet Theatre, Royal Winnipeg
Ballet and Ruth Page Foundation. Edwards also trained two years at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana on a talent and academic scholarship.
Since joining The Joffrey, Ms. Edwards’ repertory has included BILLY THE KID, APPALACHIAN SPRING, RODEO, THE TAMING OF
THE SHREW, LES PRESAGES, MIRACLE, INTERRUPTED, TENSILE INVOLVEMENT, VIVA VIVALDI, LES NOCES, LA SACRE DU PRINTEMPS and NUTCRACKER.
Ms. Edwards has been the recipient of the Ann Barzel Scholarship, MidStates Regional Dance Festival Talent Scholarship, Carey Rose Winski Competition (1st place), and the National Society of Arts & Letters Regional in Indiana.
In 2001 the Chicago Sun Times spotlighted Ms. Edwards as a “Black History Maker,” and in 2002 Edwards was The Joffrey’s nominee for the Princess Grace Foundation Award. In February 2003, Ebony magazine featured Ms. Edwards as a Young Leader of the Future in the Arts. Ms. Edwards is from Downers Grove, Illinois, a western
suburb of Chicago.