One of America's most celebrated classical dancers writes of his years with Balanchine, Robbins, LeClercq, and Farrell-the irresistible story of an exhilarating life in dance.
Jacques d'Amboise joined the New York City Ballet at fifteen, became a principal dancer at seventeen, and remained so for the next thirty-five years. He has appeared in the films Seven Brothers, Carousel, The Best Things in Life Are Free, Watching Ballet, and Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1976, he founded the National Dance Institute, an arts education program, and is the author of Teaching the Magic of Dance.
Sasha Anawalt is director of USC Annenberg Arts Journalism Programs, including the Masters degree in Specialized Journalism (The Arts) program. She also directs the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program and the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. In October 2009, she co-directed and co-produced with Douglas McLennan the first-ever National Summit on Arts Journalism. Anawalt wrote the best-selling cultural biography, The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company. She was chief dance critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, LA Weekly and on KCRW, National Public Radio. Her reviews and features have been published widely.
