Paul Chantry, was born in Grantham, England as a twin to his brother Steven. He intially wanted to train as an actor. After enrolling for acting at Brooksby Melton College, his talent for dance was spotted by one of his teachers during a Matthew Bourne workshop. The teacher encouraged him to consider adding dance to his studies. By the end of the course, Paul's passion for dance had been further inspired after watching a performance of Ballet Central at his local theatre. Although Paul had no formal ballet training (all he knew about ballet was self-taught from books and from 3 lessons he took with a friend) he decided to audition for vocational ballet school. He was successful in gaining a place at both Central School of Ballet and Rambert, but chose to attend the former.
PERFORMER
After graduating from Central, Paul joined Ballet Cymru and danced in classics such as Giselle as well as modern ballets including The Canterbury Tales. This developed Paul's passion for contemporary and modern dance which became the focus of his career thereafter. He has danced for notable contemporary choreographers such as Lucy Burge, Javier De Frutos and Will Tuckett, appearing in works including Eternal Damnation to Sancho and Sanchez (Sadler's Wells), Rusalka (Grange Park Opera), The Most Incredible Thing (Sadler's Wells) and One Touch of Venus (Opera North).
After graduating from Central, Paul joined Ballet Cymru and danced in classics such as Giselle as well as modern ballets including The Canterbury Tales. This developed Paul's passion for contemporary and modern dance which became the focus of his career thereafter. He has danced for notable contemporary choreographers such as Lucy Burge, Javier De Frutos and Will Tuckett, appearing in works including Eternal Damnation to Sancho and Sanchez (Sadler's Wells), Rusalka (Grange Park Opera), The Most Incredible Thing (Sadler's Wells) and One Touch of Venus (Opera North).
CHOREOGRAPHER
Paul had always had a great interest in choreography and was already starting to explore his creative voice when he met his wife, Rae Piper, who was dancing in the West End at the time. The two were married within a year and discovered a shared passion for choreography leading them to form the choreographic duo Piper Chantry and contemporary company Chantry Dance.
Together Piper Chantry have choreographed three David Walliams’ shows for Birmingham Stage Company - Demon Dentist, Gangsta Granny and Billionaire Boy. The latter two have enjoyed several West End runs and were both nominated for Olivier Awards. They choreographed several of the ‘Horrible Histories’ shows, the UK premiere of The Last Days of Mankind for Bristol Old Vic, and were commissioned by the Chinese Ministry of Culture to choreograph the Chinese Calligraphy, Music and Dance Concert at Sadler’s Wells.
PRODUCER
For the last 10 years Paul has co-produced and co-choreographed all of Chantry Dance's shows with Rae Piper. This includes writing seven original works, such as The Sandman and Chasing the Eclipse which was commissioned by Gravity Fields Festival 2014, and six shows that are reimaginings of well-known fairy tales. Alongside this, Paul has danced in many Chantry production as principal dancer with roles including Calder (The Little Mermaid), The Mad Hatter (Alice - Wonderland Through the Looking Glass) and Dracula (Dracula - Welcome to D's).
Paul now also works in film production. He produced and starred in the award-winning short film Whoever You Are directed by Javier De Frutos. The film had its US premiere at Raleigh Studios, Hollywood in 2022 and has gained 29 international awards, with Paul winning Best Producer at the Vegas Movie Awards.
EDUCATOR
Outside of his theatrical career, Paul is a qualified IDTA dance teacher (Level 4 Diploma). He has guest taught across the UK and internationally at prestigious theatre/dance colleges and events including English National Ballet School, Central School of Ballet, True Motion and Art Studio Danza.
Paul is passionate about delivering training to recreational and vocational dancers of all ages and abilities and has led workshops for many dance and academic schools as well as vocational dance institutions.