Americans for the Arts mourns the loss of ballet dancer Jacques d’Amboise, who passed away Sunday, May 2 at the age of 86. Though he began his career as an athletic yet elegant danseur with an infectious smile and boundless energy, he later found his second stride as an arts educator and arts education advocate, for which he received a 1990 MacArthur Fellowship, a 1995 Kennedy Honors Award, and a New York Governor’s Award, among others. Jacques joined Americans for the Arts’ Artists Committee in 2004.

Known as the first male dancer to join New York City Ballet (City Ballet) from the affiliated School of American Ballet at the age of 15 in 1949, Jacques excelled in every role, including all 24 that were choreographed for him, and most notably, George Balanchine’s revival of “Apollo” in 1957 with Jacques in the title role. He helped make ballet more accessible to broader audiences by performing on Ed Sullivan’s television show and movie musicals such as “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954) and “Carousel” (1956) as well as writing, directing, and choreographing several dance films in the early 1980s. He retired from the company in 1984, just before his 50th birthday.

During his time as a company member at City Ballet, Jacques choreographed 17 works for the company and many pieces for the students at the National Dance Institute, a program which he founded in 1976 that takes dance into public schools. Growing from Saturday morning ballet classes for boys, in the early ’80s he turned his full attention toward the Institute, expanded into numerous public schools, and opened the classes up to girls. The institute continues to teach thousands of children ages 9-14, offering lessons for free in New York City and around the world through its 13 affiliated dance institutes. As he called it in his 2011 autobiography “I Was a Dancer,” this “second chapter” of his career as an arts educator “brought something more fulfilling” to his life.

Americans for the Arts is fortunate to have been associated with Jacques and is deeply saddened by his passing.

Pictured: Jacques d’Amboise at the 2018 National Arts Awards in New York City, photo by Joe Schildhorn.