Meelis Pakri is originally from Tallinn, Estonia.
He began his ballet training at Tallinn State Ballet School and is a graduate of Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg, Russia. Between 1986 and 2001, Pakri danced as a principal dancer with the Estonian National Ballet and Colorado Ballet and was a guest artist with the Macedonian National Theatre Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, and International Ballet Festival in Havana, Cuba. During these years, Pakri danced lead roles in all the major classical ballets, as well as in neoclassical and modern repertoire by masters such as G. Balanchine and M. Graham.
At the age of 22, Pakri began his teaching career when he started teaching men's technique and partnering classes at the Tallinn State Ballet School.
Upon retirement from stage, Pakri served as a Ballet Master for Colorado Ballet and Houston Ballet, and as a teacher at The Royal Ballet Upper School in London, England.
He is a frequent guest teacher at various schools in Japan, Denmark, Italy, England and the United States. He has also been a guest teacher for the Estonian National Ballet and The Royal Ballet Company in London, England.
He has judged at the Japan Grand Prix and continues to actively judge and teach at the Youth America Grand Prix. His students have consistently won numerous awards at the Youth America Grand Prix
In addition to teaching at the Estonian National Ballet and The Royal Ballet, Meelis Pakri has also served as a guest teacher at the San Francisco Ballet. Over the last decade, he has been teaching at The Harid Conservatory, located in Boca Raton, Florida.