Blake Kessler

Biography

Blake Kessler was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He began his classical training in 2006 at The Florida Ballet Training Center and in 2010 continued his training with Orlando Ballet School. In 2014, Kessler was offered a traineeship at the San Francisco Ballet (SFB) under the direction of Patrick Armand. A year later, he joined San Francisco Ballet’s main company. During his years at SFB, Kessler performed in numerous ballets such as George Balanchine’s Rubies, Diamonds, Theme and Variation, Prodigal Son, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, and Coppelia; Helgi Tomasson’s The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker; Benjamin Millipied’s Chairman Dances; Justin Peck’s Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes, In The Countenance of Kings, and the world premiere of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming; Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein and Fearful Symmetries, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella. 

Before joining The Joffrey Ballet in 2020, Kessler danced with the Cincinnati Ballet. While there, his repertoire included Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz and the role of “Benno” in Kirk Petterson’s Swan Lake. After joining the Joffrey during the pandemic, Kessler performed in the virtual showing of Yoshihisa Arai’s Boléro.