Edward Watson was born in Bromley, South London. He trained at The Royal Ballet School, graduated into The Royal Ballet London in 1994 and was promoted to Principal in 2005. His repertoire with the company included major roles in works by Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan, as well as numerous role creations for choreographers including Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky. His many role creations for McGregor included in Symbiont(s), Qualia, Chroma, Infra, Limen, Carbon Life, Raven Girl, Tetractys, Woolf Works, Obsidian Tear, Multiverse and The Dante Project, and for Wheeldon Lewis Carroll/The White Rabbit (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Leontes (The Winter’s Tale) and John Singer Sargent (Strapless). Watson has worked with numerous other choreographers such as Siobhan Davies, David Dawson, Javier De Frutos, Alastair Marriott, Cathy Marston, Ashley Page and Arthur Pita.
In October 2021, he made his final performance with the The Royal Ballet in McGregor’s The Dante Project and started coaching Royal Ballet dancers for various productions.
Outside of life on stage Edward Watson has engaged in many collaborations, among them fashion houses, editorials and runways, as well as high-profile photographers including, Nick Knight, Nadav Kandar, Anthony Crickmay and Rick Guest.
In 2023, his pictorial book titled Ed Watson: A Different Dance was released.
His numerous awards include the 2012 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance, the 2015 Prix Benois de la Danse and Criticsʼ Circle Awards in 2001 and 2008. Furthermore, he was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2015.
Edward Watson will be a guest of the Vienna State Ballet in the 2024/25 season for the staging of Christopher Wheeldonʼs The Winterʼs Tale.