Karina González

Karina González is a native of Caracas, Venezuela and a silver medal winner of the New York International Ballet Competition in 2007. She trained at the Gustavo Franklin Ballet School in Caracas, Venezuela and has danced professionally with Ballet National of Caracas and Tulsa Ballet, where she reached the rank of principal in 2007. Ms. González joined Houston Ballet as a soloist in 2010 and was promoted to principal dancer in February 2013 following her performance as Nikiya in Stanton Welch's La Bayadère.

She has danced principal roles by the world's foremost choreographers, including Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, and The Sleeping Beauty; Andre Prokovsy's The Great Gatsby; John Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew (Kate); Ai-Gul Gaisina's staging of Giselle; George Balanchine's Western Symphony, Serenade, and Emeralds; Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Elite Syncopations; Nacho Duato's Por vos Muero, Remansos and Gnawa; Jiří Kylián's Forgotten Land, Petite Mort and Falling Angels; Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs and The Brahms-Hayden Variations; Stanton Welch's Sylvia*, Romeo and Juliet*, Marie, Giselle, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Bruiser, Maninyas, Tu Tu, The Core, Indigo, Divergence, Clear and Tapestry*; Christopher Bruce's Rooster; William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Jerome Robbin's In the Night;  Edwaard Liang's Murmuration*; James Kudelka's Passion*; Justin Peck's Reflections*, Jorma Elo's ONE/end/ONE*, Arthur Pita's Good Vibrations* and Silas Farley’s Rococo Variations, Op. 33*.

González has been a guest artist at the Gala International Colombia (2006) and at the New York International Ballet Competition's Gala (2009). Ms. González has also guested with Ballet Estable del Teatro Colon in Argentina, performing the role of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. In 2011, she participated in the Career Transition For Dancers' 26th Anniversary Jubilee in New York City, New York and The Festival de Danza Cordoba in Mexico. In the summer of 2012, Ms. González performed in the International Ballet Gala in Malaysia and was invited as a guest artist with Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard's up and coming company Ballet Next at the Joyce Theater in NYC. 

Ms. González has been featured on the cover of Pointe Magazine's February/March 2008 issue, Dance Magazine's November 2011 edition and A+C Houston Magazine's November 2011 edition.  González was name "Best dancer" 2013 by the Houston Press and was one of Pointe Magazine's favorite performances of the year. Also, González was featured in Kimberly Clark’s and Honda Civic's 2016 Television and Marketing campaign. In December 2016 González was recognized by The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at their annual Gala. In 2017, González was name one 30th Most Influential Women in Houston and 2018 was invited to participated at the International Ballet Festival of Havana. González was featured in Ed Sheeran’s music video “Put It All On Me.”  In March 2018, González and her husband, Rupert Edwards, became parents of a beautiful baby girl, Julia Edwards. In November 2023, they welcomed a second daughter, Eva Edwards, to their growing family. 

* Roles created on

Arts + Culture: Love Stories 

Arts + Culture: Milestones & Momentum

Dance Magazine: Why I Dance: Karina Gonzalez