Originally from El Paso, TX, Francisco (Franky) Melendez is a former company dancer with the El Paso Ballet Theatre and Human Nature Contemporary Ballet. He moved to Chicago in 2019. Since then has received training from the Ruth Page Center For The Arts, Joel Hall Dancers & Center, and most recently from the Chicago Movement Collective as a Claire Bataille Legacy Program student. His primary dance training is in classical ballet, but since arriving to Chicago has begun exploring other forms of dance.