Dancer Calvin Royal III Takes Center Stage At ABT — And Beyond
Royal is only the third Black dancer to be promoted to principal at the American Ballet Theatre — which is even more impressive when you know he didn't begin training in ballet until he was 14.
Tonight, dancer Calvin Royal III will take center stage for a special spotlight performance at the Vail Dance Festival — where he's this year's artist-in-residence. He'll dance to Dinah Washington's "This Bitter Earth," a piece, he says, that often makes audiences burst into tears.
"The music just takes you there," Royal says. "I feel like every time, we get lost in the sweep of it, and then we come off stage and we're like, what just happened?"
It's been a big year for Royal. Last September, the promoted him to principal dancer — and the then-31 year-old became
