I graduated with a BFA in Acting from the University of Louisville in Kentucky. While there, I also received a Minor in Voice from the University of Louisville School of Music. I started my dance training with the School of the Louisville Ballet.
School of Louisville Ballet
Since I grew up way out in the country, I had to wait until I got to Louisville to study dance. I always knew I had it on the inside.
At the time, the School was in the basement of the School of Music (where I was studying Voice). I started taking 1 class/wk. A fraternity brother of mine was going out with one of the girls in the Corp and he took class with me also. He broke up with her, but I kept going.
I loved it and kept on taking more and more classes. By the time I graduated, I was taking 6 classes a week, which is a lot. I studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Modern with them.
When I was at my Dancing prime, I could do 3 turns (pirouettes) in my sleep, 4 on a good day and 5 once in a while. Some people are better at turns than others.
My flexibility was just okay (for a male dancer), but I really understood the sharpness and geometry. If I had grown up in a big city and had all those advantages, I probably would have been a Dancer – specializing in Fosse.
and, of course, The Rich Man’s Frug from Sweet Charity.
I am more of a “Performer” than a “Technician”. I know how to sell it and work the crowd.
Male Dancers
Louisville Ballet is known for having a very strong Boys program. In Dance, you always refer to the Dancers as Girls or Boys, regardless of age.
Clark Reid was a Principal Dancer (and later the Ballet Master). He also taught a class just for Boys. The last year or 2, I was invited to take his class. It was so refreshing to be in a class with just guys. And to be trained by Clark.
He was also featured on the cover of Dance magazine when the ballet “Billy the Kid” turned 50 years old. He danced the title role for Louisville Ballet.
Nutcracker
I wasn’t an official member of the Corp, but they did ask me to play the role of the Butler in their Nutcracker for 2 years. It is a non-dancing role (they said it was normally done by one of the girl’s boyfriend), but I got to take class with the full company. That was thrilling to be surrounded by some of the best athletes in the world.
I can remember one time during Company Warm Up, we were doing a combination across the floor. One of the main Girls was right behind me and I guess I was late and her foot grazed the side of my head. I’m sure I blushed. 😉
After rehearsals one day, I was talking with the Ballet Master Vincent Falardo and told him I was basing the character on the Butler in Arthur (a popular movie at the time). He said that’s good, because that is Sir John Gielgud! I was so young. 🙂
In a coincidence, I lived 2 blocks away from Dudley Moore when I first moved to LA.
Co-Artistic Directors
Alun Jones and Helen Starr (husband and wife) were the Co-Artistic Directors for many, many years and instrumental in the success of the Louisville Ballet.
They had a connection to Mikhail Baryshnikov and were able to persuade him to perform with the Company twice. This was Baryshnikov’s first fundraiser outside of NYC. It was a resounding success when Season Subscriptions jumped from 900 to 9,000!
They were always extremely warm and gracious to me. Helen was such a fabulous dancer/athlete that she continued dancing into her 50s. That is very unusual for a girl to have to that long of a dancing career.
My Social Media links are at the bottom of every page.
From this website you can download Pictures, Headshots, Character and Body Shots, Behind the Scenes photos.
On the Resume‘ page, you can see some of the shows I’ve worked on.
On the Video page, are many reels from the various Film, TV, New Media, Industrial, and Theatre shows I have worked on. Many people call themselves an “actor”, but here you can actually see my work.
I have worked as a Bartender for longer than I want to admit. I can teach you how to make a proper Martini.
Of course, you will want to Contact me after watching all my video and reading this fabulous content.
There are many other Chris Rogers on IMDB, but I own the SAG-AFTRA name Chris Rogers. I tried to reserve the website name ChrisRogers dot com, but can’t because a writer in Texas owns that url.
