Paulo Arrais

In 1998, Paulo Arrais started his ballet training at age eleven in Goiânia Brazil with Simone Malta. At the age of fifteen, after reaching the finals at the Youth American Grand Prix, the Nureyev Foundation awarded Mr. Arrais a scholarship to the Paris Opera Ballet School. After one year he joined The Royal Ballet School in Covent Garden where he graduated.

Arrais joined The Norwegian National Ballet. There, he danced the lead roles in major classical ballets and worked with the finest contemporary masters such as, Jiri Kylian, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Glen Tedley, John Neumeier, Paul Lightfoot & Sol Leon, Liam Scarlett and Alexander Ekman

In 2009, Mr. Arrais’s search for finding his inner voice drew him to join Alonzo King Lines Ballet in San Francisco. There, Mr. Arrais developed an acute sense of creativity expressed through movement.  

In 2010, wanting to return to classicism, Mr. Arrais joined the Boston Ballet. His proficiency in classical ballet technique coupled with his unique artistic voice elevated him to the title of principal dancer in just two seasons.

In 2018, Mr. Arrais’s choreographic career hit a crescendo when Boston Ballet asked him to choreograph to Gershwin’s colorful Rhapsody in Blue. Titled ELA-Rhapsody in Blue, the ballet is a “tribute to the feminine in all of us.” Audiences and critics alike critically acclaimed the ballet, calling it an, “Inventive, compelling movement ranging from intricate, sophisticated partnering to eye-catching patterning with the large group.” ~ The Boston Globe

 As a choreographer Mr. Arrais seeks to awaken the audience. Mr. Arrais feels strongly that the genesis of movement must derive from emotion. Exploring emotional depth in his movement derives from his technical skill combined with his sensitivity of human emotion.