Gary Avis is an English ballet dancer and Principal Character Artist with The Royal Ballet, a leading classical ballet

Classical ballet

Classical Ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles, it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet...

 company based in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Born in Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

, he began studying dance locally at the age of 12, later attending the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup

Sidcup

Sidcup is a district in South East London in the London Borough of Bexley and small parts of the district in the London Borough of Greenwich.Located south east of Charing Cross, Sidcup is bordered by the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bromley and Kent County Council, and whilst now part of...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

. Whilst studying at the college, he was encouraged to audition for the Royal Ballet School

Royal Ballet School

The Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...

 and was successful in winning a place. On completing his training at the school, he joined The Royal Ballet in September 1989. He was promoted to First Artist in September 1993 and Soloist in September 1995. He left the company in January 1999 to become one of the founders of K-ballet

K-ballet

K-ballet is a Japanese ballet company. The company started in 1999 and has since held approximately 50 annual performances. K-Ballet's activity was first recognised internationally in July 2004, when the ballet group was invited to New York's Metropolitan Opera House with The Royal Ballet, one of...

 in Japan. In 2002 he joined English National Ballet

English National Ballet

English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin and based at Markova House in South Kensington, London, England. Along with the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the four major ballet companies in Great...

as a First Soloist and later rejoined The Royal Ballet in September 2004. He was later appointed as Principal Character Artist and Assistant Ballet Master.