Rua was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and grew up in nearby Linden. His parents, Maria Nohelia Castañeda Cano and Elibanier "Marco" Rua, were both immigrants from Colombia.
Rua graduated in 2001 from Linden High School, where he participated in the marching band and musical theatre. He received a B.A. in Communication and Public Relations from Rutgers University. During Rua's college years, he attended his first dance class, and later started teaching dance to younger students.
After college, Rua joined a dance company as an unpaid commitment, and eventually became a professional dancer doing live performance, music video work, and danced for Mariah Carey, Don Omar, Soulja Boy, Target, Billboard, Puma, Reebok, IBM, and Panasonic. Rua then transitioned into musical theatre and acting.
Rua made his Broadway debut in 2008 as a swing in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical In the Heights, later becoming the replacement for Sonny and Graffiti Pete. He stepped into the leading role of Usnavi several times as understudy.
As an original Broadway cast member of Hamilton in 2015, Rua originated the role of Charles Lee and performed in the ensemble, which he plays in the Hamilton Movie on Disney Plus. On December 20, 2015, Rua became the third performer to take on the title role of Alexander Hamilton on Broadway, as Miranda's understudy. Rua left Hamilton on June 29, 2016, and briefly returned in February 2017 as the Hamilton Alternate. In addition, Jon has originated the roles of 'Jesus Pena' in Hands on a Hardbody and 'Patchy the Pirate' in The SpongeBob Musical. Rua's off-broadway and regional theater credits include: The Hombres, ¿ Kung Fu, Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Somewhere, West Side Story, Pirates, In the Heights, and Damn Yankees at NYCC Encores
Rua's choreographer career has focused on originating new work as well as reinvigorating past musicals. He has choreographed the world premiers of The Unauthorized Untitled Hunter S. Thompson Musical, 3 Summers of Lincoln, The Hombres, as well as regional producer Macbeth, Rent, Godspell, Aida, Jesus Christ Superstar, amongst other workshops of developmental musicals. He has been the specialty choreographer/assistant for Broadway's The Cher Show and The SpongeBob Musical, as well as the rom-com Isn't it Romantic. Rua took his vision to the next level as a Co-Creative Director and the Choreographer for PHISH New Year's Eve Show at Madison Square Garden in 2019-2020 with 'Send in the Clones'. He has conceived music videos and commercials for Coheed & Cambria ("Old Flames"), Lawrence ('More"), and the New York Lotto to name a few.
Rua is an associate choreographer for Boop! The Musical, which started performances on March 11, 2025, and officially opened on April 5th. As well as the choreographer for dance sequences for Floyd Collins, which started performances on March 18th, 2025, and officially opened on April 21st.
Educator / Movement Director
Rua teaches dancers of all levels through workshops. Most recently Rua put on a dance workshop in 2021 as a Movement Director on the SS Neverender, a cruise for the band Coheed & Cambria, to the song In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3. Rua also led an advanced hip hop workshop at BroadwayCon in 2016.
Awards and recognitions
Other awards:
2025 nominee Tony Awards for Best Choreography for Boop! The Musical as an Associate Choreographer
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
