Calvin Royal III (born ) is an American ballet dancer. He is the third black dancer to be a principal dancer with the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

Early life and training

Royal is from

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Florida. He first studied in piano, and had appeared in a local dance show titled ''The Chocolate Nutcracker''. At age 14, he was recommended to audition for Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School's dance program and was accepted despite his lack of dance training. When he was 17, he competed at the

Youth America Grand Prix Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is a non-profit international youth ballet and contemporary dance competition and scholarship program established in 1999. Overview Each year, over 10,000 dancers participate in the competitions and auditions YAGP ...

"just hoping to get feedback", and received a scholarship to the

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre (ABT/JKO School) is the associate school of American Ballet Theatre located at 890 Broadway, within the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. The school comprises a children ...

in New York City.

Career

Royal joined ABT II,

's second company in 2007, became an apprentice with the main company in 2010, a corps de ballet member in 2011, and soloist in 2017. In 2014, Royal received a $50,000 fellowship which he used to tour Europe and to train at the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

in London and the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2019, Royal and

Misty Copeland Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African Americ ...

became the first black duo in ABT to dance the lead roles in a ballet, by performing Ratmansky's restaging of ''

Harlequinade ''Harlequinade'' is an English comic theatrical genre, defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th ce ...

''. Later that year, on his debut as the title role in Balanchine's ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'', the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that he "is suddenly the most elegant male dancer in the company". In 2020, though his debuts as the lead roles in ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'' and MacMillan's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' were delayed due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he was promoted to principal dancer, making him the third black person to reach this rank, after

Desmond Richardson Desmond Richardson is an American dancer, actor and co-founder, and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He has mastered a wide range of dance forms including hip hop, classical, modern, classical ballet, and contemporary bal ...

and Copeland. In 2017, Royal performed a

pas de deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

Balanchine's ''

Agon () is the Greek personification for a conflict, struggle or contest, describing a concept of the same name. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. i ...

'' alongside

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

soloist

Unity Phelan Unity Sickles Phelan (born February 1995) is an American ballet dancer. She joined the New York City Ballet in 2013 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2021. Outside of the company, she had also danced in the films '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – ...

, with Arthur Mitchell, who originated Royal's role and the first African American dancer with NYCB, in the audience. Mitchell commented the ballet was "in good hands", and later said "If they ever did a film of a young me, it would be Calvin." The following year, after Mitchell's death, Royal and Phelan reprised the ''Agon'' pas de deux at his memorial. Royal had been a frequent performer at the Vail Dance Festival since 2015. He was named artist-in-residence of the festival in 2020. Royal was also handpicked by Copeland to be her partner in performances outside of the company.

Personal life

Royal is openly gay, and is married to Polish pianist Jacek Mysinski. Royal studied at the

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...

when he was in ABT II and an ABT apprentice, but withdrew when he joined the corps de ballet due to his schedule. He resumed his study through

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

's LEAP program in 2018 after he became a soloist.

References

External links

Official websiteCalvin Royal III
- American Ballet Theatre profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Calvin III Living people 1980s births People from Tampa, Florida African-American male ballet dancers American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School alumni American LGBTQ dancers American gay entertainers American gay artists Dancers from Florida 21st-century American ballet dancers Gay dancers LGBTQ people from Florida African-American LGBTQ people Long Island University alumni Saint Mary's College of California alumni 21st-century American LGBTQ people