Gary Avis is an English ballet dancer and Principal Character Artist with The Royal Ballet, a leading classical ballet company based in London, England. Born in Ipswich, he began studying dance locally at the age of 12, later attending the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup, Kent. Whilst studying at the college, he was encouraged to audition for the Royal Ballet School 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 in Japan. In 2002 he joined English National Ballet 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.