05/04/2021
Yesterday we learned of the passing of Jacques d’Amboise, the Founder of National Dance Institute. He was a dancer, an artist, a scholar, a poet, an advocate, a teacher, and most of all, a friend who loved deeply and gave generously. He was the inspiration and catalyst behind everything we have done.
Jacques was an exuberant star of the New York City Ballet from 1953 to 1984, and a favorite of its legendarily choreographer George Balanchine. Balanchine created more than a dozen leading roles for him, the most for any male dancer in the company’s history. He danced on Broadway and in films such as “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Carousel.” A documentary about his life won an Academy Award, and he received some of the art world’s most coveted prizes, including the 1998 National Medal of Arts, 1995 Kennedy Center Honors and a 1990 MacArthur Foundation Award, often called “the genius grant.”
A genius he was. To be in his company was to be in the presence of brilliance. Through him, hundreds of thousands of children from all over the world gained a sense of self and knew their capabilities by having the opportunity to learn through dance. He knew how to use the arts to unlock what was within. He knew how to use dance to help children feel powerful instead of self-conscious. Artists are expected to not be like anyone else, and when that is celebrated in you as a young person it sets you free to become the truest version of yourself thereafter. He insisted on excellence, because “truth has two children – exact and precise.”
He was a man with no equal, and we love him. Rest in power, dear Jacques. Your impact is eternal.
