A California native, Contributor Francis Veyette began his dance training at age 10 at Dance Arts in Visalia, CA. He also studied at Westside Ballet in Santa Monica and took summer sessions at The School of American Ballet in New York City and The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia.
Mr. Veyette joined Pennsylvania Ballet as an Apprentice in 1997 and was promoted to the Corps de Ballet in September 1999. His featured roles included Candy Cane and Tea in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™, Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, and Titania’s Cavalier in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In August 2003, Mr. Veyette joined Kansas City Ballet under the artistic direction of William Whitener, where he danced for two seasons. His featured roles included the principal couple in Balanchine’s Square Dance and Theme and Variations, Cavalier and Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, the Husband in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert, the principal couple in Paquita, and the Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle. He appeared as a guest artist for Pennsylvania Ballet on three occasions during the 2004-2005 Season, before returning to the Company for the 2005-2006 Season as a member of the Corps de Ballet. Mr. Veyette was promoted to Soloist for the 2007-2008 Season and to Principal Dancer for the 2011-2012 Season.
Mr. Veyette’s principal roles include Prince Siegfried in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake, the Pas de Deux in George Balanchine’s Agon and Diamonds from Jewels, Father in The Prodigal Son, Colas in Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, Franz in Coppélia, and Pas de Deux 2 in William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite. In 2012, Mr. Veyette danced the role of Count Albrecht in Giselle opposite former Principal Dancer Arantxa Ochoa in her final series of performances. He has created featured roles in Jorma Elo’s Pulcinella, Benjamin Millepied’s This Part in Darkness, and several Matthew Neenan ballets including 11:11, As It’s Going, Penumbra, and Pampeana No.2.
Mr. Veyette has danced in Spain, Japan, Scotland, Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. He also has had the opportunity to work with cutting-edge choreographers as a guest artist with Matthew Neenan and Christine Cox’s BalletX and has created several of his own works for both Shut Up and Dance and Kansas City Ballet’s “In the Wings” program. Mr. Veyette is a guest teacher at the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and around the country. In 2014 became the Artistic Director of Pennsylvania Ballet II. Mr. Veyette is married to Principal Dancer Lauren Fadeley.