HIS STORY
Born in Fort Stewart, Georgia, the son of a military family, Calvin spent his early years moving from one army base to the next.
When Calvin was 6 years old, his parents separated. He, his mother and younger brother, moved in with his grandmother in Tampa Bay, Florida. She was a point of stability as well as a lover of cultural arts. She saw them as a gateway of opportunities that opened young minds to promise and possibilities. When Calvin showed an interest in playing piano, she bought him a Yamaha keyboard for Christmas. Self taught, he played by ear. When auditions for the local community project The Chocolate Nutcracker came to town his mother, a dancer in her youth, made sure Calvin arrived to every practice and performance encouraged. It was his first exposure to the rhythms and movements of West Africa, jazz, and hip hop. Inspired by steps to music and a sense of roots, he committed to the hard work of dance.
He began ballet training at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was 14 and a half, and already a freshman in high school, when he put two hands on the ballet barre for the very first time.
A “very late bloomer” he began the journey of overcoming the physical and psychological demands of classical ballet. Two years later, against all odds, he entered and was singled out as a finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition — America’s premiere showcase to identify promising young dancers in New York City.
His performance in the competition led the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of American Ballet Theatre (ABT) to offer him a full time scholarship. So, in his senior year, Calvin left high school for New York City and began his climb to the top of the most prestigious classical ballet company in America.
After a year and a half in the ABT School and two years in ABT’s Junior Company, he was promoted to an Apprentice in the Main Company.
Diligent work in the Main Company brought Calvin a nomination for the Clive Barnes Award, and the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship — pioneering a $50,000 grant to further his artistic development. Specifically, Calvin made it his educational mission to use this award and future downtime to travel and work with private coaches at preeminent ballet theaters of the world. His fellowship allowed him to study at the Paris Opera Ballet in France, the Royal Ballet in London, the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, and the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. In recognition of his growing profile, the City of St. Petersburg, Florida awarded him the Keys to the City.
Continued…
In 2017, upon the completion of his tours and Spring Season with ABT, Calvin was promoted to Soloist. He appeared as a featured dancer in supporting roles in productions of Swan Lake, Manon, Romeo and Juliet, and Fancy Free catching the eye of Alastair Macaulay the then Chief Dance Critic of the New York Times:
“...the season’s chief star so far has been a soloist: Calvin Royal III, now reaching his maturity. This marvel of rhythm, line, character and immediacy is irresistible in the Robbins “Fancy Free”..and in the new Dorrance “Dream within a Dream.” Often he seems to embody several layers of the music at once: meter, melody, harmony.”
Notably, while still a Soloist in 2019, Calvin also earned the opportunity to perform the title role in George Balanchine’s Apollo — a role historically reserved for established Principal dancers. His performance was a breakthrough, receiving glowing reviews from New York Times Critic Gia Kourlas who reported that Calvin Royal III:
“...is suddenly the most elegant male dancer in the company. He made a remarkable debut in the daunting title role of Balanchine’s Apollo. Splendidly expansive, he makes you realize how important expressive hands and fingers can be: In “Apollo,” they radiated with a wholeness that made you sense their interior force.”
Based on these successes, in September 2020, Kevin McKenzie - ABT’s Artistic Director - promoted Calvin to Principal Dancer, again noted in the New York Times, “the third African-American dancer to be elevated to that role” in ABT’s 81 years history; and the first man of color in a quarter of a century, as well as the climb the ladder from a student in ABT’s JKO School to ABT’s highest rank.
In addition to ABT, Calvin has also performed with some of the dance and film industry’s most illustrious creatives, choreographers, and festivals: Twyla Tharp, Justin Peck, Benjamin Millepied, Christopher Wheeldon, Alonzo King, Mark Morris, Wayne McGreggor, Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance, Tiler Peck, Daniil Simkin’s Intensio Project, Daniele Cipriani’s Les Etoiles Gala in Rome, Jamar Roberts and BalletX, Christie’s, The New York City Center’s Fall For Dance Festival, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park Summer Festival, and was the 2020 and 2021Artist-in-Residence at the Vail Dance Festival in Colorado.
Calvin Royal III: Apollo Foundation - currently under registration - is Calvin’s charitable endeavor which aims to expand his outreach and mentorship to kids like him. The Foundation, a collective of dancers and champions of inspiration and education, sets out to transform the perceptions and prospects of talented disadvantaged youth in dance – uplifting their lives and circumstances step-by-step.
In the Summer of 2022, after a two year pause for COVID, Calvin performs at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center with American Ballet Theatre as a Principal artist in starring roles:
Espada in Don Quixote, Chaereas in Alexei Ratmansky’s newest production Of Love and Rage alongside Hee Seo, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake and Romeo in Romeo & Juliet alongside Christine Shevchenko. As well as other featured performances of Alonzo King’s Single Eye, Jessica Lang’s ZigZag that you don’t want to miss!
For more info on upcoming performances and to purchase tickets CLICK HERE!
Photographs featuring Sarah Goldstone