Fabrice Calmels

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.