Fabrice Calmels
- Actor
- Composer
Fabrice Calmels, the international ballet star, has been dancing since
he was just four years old in Paris, France. While primarily focusing
on developing his ballet skills, Fabrice also had an early passion for
acting leading to his involvement in musical theater productions.
However, seven years into his training, ballet became his main focus
when he was selected to train and study at the prestigious,
300-year-old Paris Opera School, under the direction of Claude Bessy.
During his seven years there, Fabrice worked with world-renowned dance
masters such as Serge Golovine, Gilbert Mayer, Max Bozzoni, John
Neumier, Jirí Kylián, Violette Verdy, and also performed at the
beautiful Opera Palais Garnier theatre. It was during his last years of
schooling that Fabrice went through significant growth spurts to his
current height of 6 foot 6 inches tall resulting. Upon graduation from
the Paris Opera School with a degree in Anatomy and the history of
dance, Fabrice moved to the United States to pursue his dance career.
Even though many believed his height would hinder his dream of a
professional career, Fabrice's talent and perseverance has lead him to
what he is today, the tallest professional ballet dancer in the world.
Over the past twelve years, Fabrice has been a dedicated principal
dancer of the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, Illinois. Originally invited
to join the company by one of its co-founders, the great Gerald Arpino,
Fabrice has danced his way through the company ranks to become one of
its most popular and recognized principal dancers (most notably
beginning with his principal role as Apollo at just twenty-three years
old). Prior to finding his home with the Joffrey Ballet, Fabrice danced
and trained with several other great American ballet companies and
schools including the Rock School, the School of American Ballet
(Balanchine style), the Pennsylvania Ballet, and Boston Ballet (Russian
technique). Additionally, due to difficulties regaining his Visa in
2001, Fabrice took advantage of a year back at home in Paris, France to
perfect his pas de deux skills performing the acrobatic pas de deux for
the famed Lido de Paris. It was also during this time Fabrice was able
to focus back on his love of acting by training with the French acting
program Cours Florent. He credits this training with helping him bring
his dance characters to life especially in the Joffrey Ballet
productions of Othello (Othello), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oberon),
and The Merry Widow (Danilo), and Don Quixote (Don Quixote).
Additionally, he has utilized his acting training in collaboration with
Barry Singer's theatre production of "Misia" playing the role of
Nijinski at the Ravinia Festival. Fabrice has also been involved with
film productions of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" and Michael
Bay's "Transformers". He continues to pursue acting roles. Fabrice
loves creating. His experience dancing around the world and working
with master choreographers including Edwaard Liang, Yuri Possokov,
Gerald Aprino, James Kudelka as they create new dance works for the
Joffrey Ballet gave Fabrice the spark to choreograph for small and
large international productions himself, including: Jean Felix
Lalanne's Autour de la Guitar in Paris, France. Fabrice choreographed,
filmed, and produced "30 Seconds of Dance" on his website to promote
dance all over the world. He has also created original ballet and
modern pieces of choreography for children competing in international
competition such as the Youth American Grand Prix and other national
dance competitions. In addition, in his free time Fabrice has utilized
his unique knowledge and skill-set to teach, model, and consult with
dancers, companies and productions. Over the years, he has been
integral in helping the Colombian Salsa Team, Constellation Latina, to
become world champions and assisting many dance studios in Chicago grow
their businesses and become stable operations. Fabrice has also been
involved with regional dance companies, aiding their ballet
productions, as well as serving as a judge for both small and large
talent shows (including the national television production "So You
Think You Can Dance") and produced and choreographed music videos.