Jacques d'Amboise

Jacques d'Amboise has been recognized as one of the great American dancers of the 20th Century. Mr. d'Amboise has also been honored for his contributions to arts education (e.g., the 1990 MacArthur Fellowship, the Capezio Award, the Producer's Circle Award for public service, the Governor's Award for outstanding contributions to art and culture, the Paul Robeson Award for Excellence in the Field of the Humanities and the American National Medal of the Arts awarded in 1998 by the National Endowment of the Arts). At age 75, Mr. D'Amboise continues to be an inspiration as an artist and a teacher.

At the age of fifteen Jacques d'Amboise dropped out of school to dance with the New York City Ballet. By the age of seventeen Mr. d'Amboise was promoted to principal dancer. In 1954 Mr. d'Amboise took a brief leave from the NYCB to appear in the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Mr. d'Amboise returned to the NYCB where, for over 3 decades, he was one of America's most-loved dancers (although he did take another brief leave to appear in the film version of Carousel in 1956). As a dancer, Mr. d'Amboise is best known for his roles in such distinctly American works as Western Symphony (1954), Stars and Stripes (1958), and Who Cares? (1970), with many ballets choreographed for him by George Balanchine. During his time at the NYCB, Mr. d'Amboise also began to choreograph (The Chase in 1963 and Quatuor and Irish Fantasy in 1964). In 1976, while still dancing with the NYCB, Mr. d'Amboise founded the National Dance Institute, bringing dance into the NY public schools. NDI has since expanded into other cities and internationally. Mr. d'Amboise's efforts with NDI were documented in He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin', which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1984.

How to contact Jacques d'Amboise:
National Dance Institute
594 Broadway, room 805
New York, NY, 10012
e-mail: info@nationaldance.org
www.nationaldance.org