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I Was a Dancer

A Memoir
by Jacques d'Amboise
I Was a Dancer: A Memoir. Knopf. Feb. 2011. c.448p. photogs. index. ISBN 9781400042340. $35. DANCE
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In his engrossing recollections, d'Amboise writes, "My memoirs are not filled with angst.… Everything was given to me, and all of it was the best of the best." This sunny summary understates his commitment to hard work and his unabashed love of ballet. By the age of 17 he was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he danced for 35 years. Later, in 1976, he founded the National Dance Institute, a successful arts education program that is still making a difference. The touchstones of d'Amboise's remembrances are the ballets he danced and the artists with whom he worked. The choreographer George Balanchine was a central influence in his life, but d'Amboise shares entertaining stories and insights from such luminaries as Lincoln Kirstein, Antony Tudor, Maria Tallchief, Allegra Kent, and Diana Adams.
VERDICT Like Bob Dylan's Chronicles, d'Amboise's memoir is episodic and nonlinear, an approach not all readers will appreciate. But his writing style is conversational and casual, and his voice is enthusiastic, optimistic, and full of wonder—balletomanes will not be able to put this book down. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/10.]
Reviewed by Joan Stahl, Head Librarian, George Washington's Mount Vernon, VA , Dec 01, 2010
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