Gary Avis
Gary Avis MBE | |
---|---|
![]() (Left to right) Carlos Acosta, Darcey Bussell and Gary Avis at the curtain call of Bussell's farewell performance | |
Born | 1969/1970 (age 51–52) Ipswich, England |
Education | Bird College The Royal Ballet School |
Occupation | ballet dancer |
Partner(s) | Tim Holder |
Current group | The Royal Ballet |
Former groups | K-ballet English National Ballet |
Gary Avis MBE is an English ballet dancer who is currently a Principal Character Artist and Senior Ballet Master with The Royal Ballet, London.
Early life[]
Avis was born in Ipswich.[1] He was first trained in musical theatre, and had performed in the Royal Variety Performance. He did not start ballet until he was 12. He then studied musical theatre at Bird College in Kent. Avis later started training at The Royal Ballet School in London after a teacher from Bird College filled in the application form for him.[2]
Career[]
Avis joined The Royal Ballet in 1989, and became a soloist in 1995. In 1999, he co-founded K-ballet in Japan. In 2002, he joined the English National Ballet as a First Soloist before returning to the Royal Ballet in 2004. He was made Principal Character Artist the following year.[3] In 2007, he was appointed Assistant Ballet Master, and was named Ballet Master in the 2009/10 season.[1] In 2019, Avis was made Senior Ballet Master.[4] He had portrayed character roles such as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, Von Rothbart in Swan Lake and Prince Gremin in Onegin. His role creations include Woolf Works, for which he danced with Alessandra Ferri.[5]
Avis is a frequent partner of Darcey Bussell. In her final performance, which was broadcast live, Avis danced with Bussell and Carlos Acosta in Song of the Earth.[3] Avis later danced in Bussell and Katherine Jenkins's tour, Viva la Diva[6] and on Strictly Come Dancing, where Bussell was a judge.[2] In 2012, Avis performed at the London Olympics closing ceremony, in a sequence titled 'Spirit of the Flame', choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and composed by David Arnold. Bussell flew to the stage on a flaming phoenix and when landing was met by Avis, Jonathan Cope, Edward Watson, Nehemiah Kish and over 200 ballet dancers, after which the Olympic Flame was extinguished.[7]
Avis won the National Dance Awards for Outstanding Male Performance (Classical) in 2011 and 2019.[8][9] He was made an MBE in 2018. He also has an honorary doctorate from the University of Suffolk, and had worked with the Art and Culture Fund at Suffolk Community Foundation.[10][11]
Personal life[]
Avis is in a civil partnership with Tim Holder.[2] They live in rural Suffolk.[5]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Gary Avis". Royal Opera House. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Lambert, Victoria (30 August 2019). "I know how hard being a boy who loves ballet can be". The Telegraph. London.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Suffolk dancer stars in Darcey farewell". East Anglian Daily Times. 7 June 2007.
- ^ Black, Becky (12 July 2019). "The Royal Ballet announces promotions, leavers and joiners for the 2019/20 season". Royal Opera House.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Webber, Christine (11 May 2015). "Gary Avis: 'No one's ever lonely in a dance class'". The Telegraph. London.
- ^ "Glamour gig for Gary". East Anglian Daily Times. 29 April 2008.
- ^ "Spirit of the flame". London 2012.
- ^ "2011 UK National Dance Awards – Winners Announced". Dance Tabs. 23 January 2012.
- ^ "The National Dance Awards 2019/20". Dancing Times. 20 February 2020.
- ^ Gibbon, Amy (12 October 2018). "Suffolk ballet star Gary Avis receives MBE at Buckingham Palace". East Anglian Daily Times.
- ^ Mortimer, Lynne (4 April 2019). "Ballet Star Gary Avis in conversation with Christine Webber". Ipswich Star.
External links[]
- Living people
- People educated at the Royal Ballet School
- Dancers of The Royal Ballet
- English National Ballet dancers
- English male ballet dancers
- People from Ipswich
- 20th-century British dancers
- 21st-century British dancers
- 20th-century ballet dancers
- 21st-century ballet dancers
- LGBT dancers
- LGBT entertainers from England
- Members of the Order of the British Empire