Michel Gervais

Michel Gervais, a native of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, started dancing at the age of 11 with the Ida Sauvé Dance Studios.  He continued his studies at the National Ballet School of Canada as well as at the school of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal.  His ability to understand and teach various choreographic styles was first seen when he was assistant to the choreographer for the Canadian company Juan Antonio’s Confidanse, under the direction of the late Juan Antonio.  Mr. Gervais has also worked extensively as a performer, assistant and ballet master for choreographer David Allan, setting many of his ballets for companies such as: The National Ballet of Canada, Ballet Pacifica, National Dance Theatre of Bermuda, Hong Kong Ballet and others.

Mr. Gervais has danced for such companies as; Feld Ballet/NY, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Theatre Ballet of Canada, National Dance Theatre of Bermuda, P.M. Jazz, Zing Ballet, Ontario Ballet Theatre, Los Angeles Classical Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Ballet Pacifica and California Riverside Ballet where he also served as Ballet Master. He has also worked with many renowned choreographers such as; Louis Falco, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Danny Grossman, Ulysses Dove, Brian MacDonald, Paul-Andrée Fortier, Rick McCullough, Miriam Mahdaviani, Colin Connor, Peter Pucci and Elliot Feld.

Mr. Gervais has been teaching during most of his dancing career and has had the opportunity to teach and coach such illustrious dancers as; Veronica Tennant, Darci Kistler, Galina Shlyapina, Sabina Allemann, Rex Harrington, Anthony Randazzo, Steven Legate, Greta Hodgskinson, Johan Peerson, David Palmer, Serge Lavoie and Julia Adam.

He is a sought after teacher for summer schools such as; American Ballet Theatre, Canadian Dance Teachers Association, Dance In Action, Debbie Reynolds Dance Center and Ballet Pacifica. He has been invited as a guest teacher to work with; Hong Kong Ballet, London Rambert Dance Co., JimmyDeforeDanceCenter, University of California, Irvine, University of California, Riverside, YorkUniversity and the National Dance Theatre of Bermuda.

Mr. Gervais’ choreography has been performed by: American Ballet Theatre (summer intensive), CaliforniaRiversideBallet, Canada’s Excalibur, Ballet Pacifica, Festival Ballet Theatre, L’Amalgame, Theatre du Nouvelle Ontario and the University of California, Irvine. Mr. Gervais’ choreography was presented in 2003 by UCI at the prestigious Paris Festival, Danses de Mai at The National Conservatoire of Paris.