10 Facts About Gary Avis

1.

Gary Avis MBE is an English ballet dancer who is currently a Principal Character Artist and Senior Ballet Master with The Royal Ballet, London.

2.

Gary Avis was first trained in musical theatre, and had performed in the Royal Variety Performance.

3.

Gary Avis then studied musical theatre at Bird College in Kent.

4.

Gary Avis joined The Royal Ballet in 1989, and became a soloist in 1995.

5.

Gary Avis was made Principal Character Artist the following year.

6.

Gary Avis had portrayed character roles such as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, Von Rothbart in Swan Lake and Prince Gremin in Onegin.

7.

Gary Avis later danced in Bussell and Katherine Jenkins's tour, Viva la Diva and on Strictly Come Dancing, where Bussell was a judge.

8.

Bussell flew to the stage on a flaming phoenix and when landing was met by Gary Avis, Jonathan Cope, Edward Watson, Nehemiah Kish and over 200 ballet dancers, after which the Olympic Flame was extinguished.

9.

Gary Avis won the National Dance Awards for Outstanding Male Performance in 2011 and 2019.

10.

Gary Avis has an honorary doctorate from the University of Suffolk, and had worked with the Art and Culture Fund at Suffolk Community Foundation.