Born and raised in France, Fabrice Calmels began his ballet training at age 3, following in the footsteps of his younger sister. In 1991, Fabrice entered the prestigious, 300 year old Paris Opera School under the direction of Claude Bessy, and thus began his professional path in dance.
In 1998, at the age of 17, Fabrice was spotted by John Meehan, director of American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company, and moved from France to New York. Fabrice grew to perfect and expand his technique in America by training at The Rock School, and later by dancing with Pennsylvania Ballet. At Boston Ballet, under the direction of Anna-Marie Holmes, he learned the Russian technique with ballet masters Tatiana Terekhova and Sergei Berezhnoi. He learned a great deal of the Balanchine style at The School of American Ballet.
In September 2001, not able to acquire his visa to re-enter the United States, Fabrice returned home to France and joined the Paris's most famous cabaret, LIDO de Paris. There he was fortunate enough to hone his pas de deux skills by performing the show's acrobatic pas de deux.
In 2002, Fabrice finally settled in Chicago with the Joffrey Ballet, under the direction of company co-founder Gerald Arpino. In 2004, at the age of 23, Fabrice became a lead dancer for the Joffrey, notably through his principal role as Apollo in Balanchine's "Apollo". He was also coached by the famouse Sir Anthony Dowell for the title role of Oberon in Ashton's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". In October of 2009, Fabrice will be performing the title role in Lar Lubovitch's full length, three act ballet, "Othello".
Throughout his training he has worked with world-renowned dance masters such as Serge Golovine, Gilbert Mayer, Max Bozzoni, John Neumier, Jiri Kylian, and Violette Verdy. He has performed on many stages throughout the world, including the breathtaking Opera Palais Garnier theater, and all of the well known Chicago stages including the Auditorium Theater, The Pritzker, The Harris Theater, and at the Ravinia Festival.
Fabrice has danced several times for television, often featured on Chicago's WGN TV. He also dances with ABT principal dancer, Veronica Part, in guest performances. In 2008, he performed for "The Stars of the 21st Century". He has also expanded himself into acting, performing the role of Nijinsky in the theater piece "MISIA" by writer Barry Singer, performed at Chicago's Ravinia Festival. In the spring of 2007, Fabrice collaborated with world-famous musician, Jean-Felix Lalanne, and his choreography was performed at his "Autour de la Guitarre" in Paris. This past summer, in July of 2009, Fabrice traveled to Colombia, South America to act as the personal coach to the salsa team, Constelacion Latina. With his help and their hard work, they won the annual World Salsa Festival in Cali, Colombia. They will be traveling to Florida this December to compete in the World Salsa Championships.
Currently Fabrice is still dancing with the Joffrey Ballet. He is also focusing on choreography, modeling, and his new website. In May of 2009, he founded 30secondsofdance.com, a website that features 30 seconds of high definition film of all genres of dance from all over the world.
