Jacques d'Amboise

D'Amboise was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where ballets were created especially for him by choreographer George Balanchine. D'Amboise also choreographed for the New York City Ballet.

As well as ballets, d'Amboise danced in films, including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, where he played the part of Ephraim, one of the brothers-and Carousel (1956), where he danced the ballet role of the Starlight Carnival barker, in which he partnered Susan Luckey in Louise's Ballet and the Disney movie Off Beat (1986), built around a dance class he taught to New York City police.

D'Amboise founded National Dance Institute in 1976, which has been teaching school children how to dance for the past 40 years. The NDI program often combines music and art with studies of other cultures, histories, and literature, offering a unique and comprehensive performing arts experience, while fostering curiosity and a sense of achievement. The documentary film about Jacques d'Amboise and National Dance Institute, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin', won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1983 and an Emmy Award in 1984 for Best Children's Programming.