He started life as Joseph Ahearn, and was dragged at eight years old to ballet class by his mother, The Boss. She changed the family name to her maiden name, d’Amboise, ”It’s aristocratic … sounds better for the ballet.”
Studying with Balanchine and other legendary dancers and choreographers, by the age of fifteen Jacques d’Amboise made his European debut at Covent Garden in London. d’Amboise was principal dancer with the New York City Ballet for thirty three years, partnering with the great ballerinas of the time. He writes of Taniquil le Clerc, Melissa Hayden, Allegra Kent.
Although he writes of the world where artistic temperaments abound, this is not a book of backstage gossip and scandal. Instead he emphasizes the discipline and hardwork involved in the art of dancing.
Married to dancer Carrie George, they raised two sons and twin daughters and seem, at least within the pages of this book to be a steady, loving family.
When his career as a dancer came to an end, d’Amboise turned his skills, knowledge and love for the art form into teaching, first in New York’s public schools and now in dance institutes throughout the world.
He concludes his memoir, “Everything was given to me, by the best and of their best . . . Trying to understand the twenty first [century] I have become a proselytizer for the importance of the arts . . . But above all . . . I was a dancer”
[Published 2011]
Nancy Dolensek says
I was fortunate to produce a project with Jacques a number of years ago. We had 500 school children on stage, including children from schools for the blind and deaf. We also involved other arts organizations in a number of ways. He is an amazing man and I am surprised and pleased to see him appearing in the Chestertown Spy.